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TEXT BOOK 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



THE UNITED STATES. 



BY 

GEORGE Rf MARTIN, 
M 

TEACHER OF HISTORY AND CIVIL POLITY 

IN 

THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 
BRIDGEWATEB, MASS. 



EDITION FOR THE WESTERN STATES. 



PUBLISHED BY 

A. S. BARNES AND COMPANY, 

NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. 

me. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 

GEORGE H. MARTIN, 
xn the Oilice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

e and Mrs, iseac R. Hitt 
July 3, 1933 



J 



PREFACE. 



The attention of teachers is invited to the five distinctive 
features of this book : — 

1. Its full statement of principles, A knowledge of these 
principles will be found of value not only in studying our 
own institutions, but also in studying ancient and modern 
history. They furnish a standard by which to test the vari- 
ous governments that have existed, and often explain the 
influence that those governments have exerted. 

2. Its comprehensive plan^ embracing the state, county, 
cit}^, and town organizations, as well as that of the United 
States. As every citizen takes part more directl}'^ in the 
local administration than in that of the general government, 
he needs to understand the powers and relations of the state 
and municipal governments. 

3. Its historical method. The endeavor has been to show 
not onl}' what our free institutions are, but why the}' are, by 
tracing their development from germs in the early English 
constitution through the colonial and revolutionary periods 
of our own histor3\ 

4. Its topical arrangemeyit. The teacher will find this a 



4 PREFACE. 

help in assigning lessons ; and the scholar, in studying and 
remembering them. 

5. Its omission of details, A 'school text-book on this 
subject should not be a compendium of political statistics, 
nor an office-holder's guide, but a citizen's manual. 

Experience has shown that young men and women from 
fifteen to twenty years of age may become deeply interested 
in the study of civil polity if the teacher is interested, and 
knows his subject. The best results in knowledge and disci- 
pline are attained \)y making the class exercise one of discus- 
sion, rather than of mere recitation. It is not intended that 
the chapters on the colonial governments should be committed ; 
but read in the class-room, and compared, and a summary 
made of their general featui-es. Every school should have 
among its reference books a copy of the General Statutes, the 
Acts and Resolves of the Legislature, and a Law Dictionary. 

As Parts III. and lY. of the book are themselves summaries 
of the constitutions of the State and the United States, sum- 
maries at the end of the chapters are omitted. 

Bridgewater, August, 1875 



oo:n"tei5"ts. 



PART I. 

PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER I. PAGB 
Definition of Terms 11 

CHAPTER n. 
Source of Authority in the State 15 

CHAPTER ni. 
The Government: Its Functions and Departments ... 19 

CHAPTER IV. 

Forms of Governments, and Means by which they arb 
limited 24 

CHAPTER V.' 
Obligations of the Government 31 

CHAPTER VI. 
Obligations of the Government, continued .... 40 

CHAPTER VII. 
Nature and Duties of Citizenship ... , , , 46 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

CrVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE STATES BEFORE THEIR 
INDEPENDENCE. 

CHAPTEB Vm. PAGE 

EsTABLisHivmisrT OF CiYXL, Eeligiofs, and Political Libektt 

IN England . « 55 

CHAPTEB IX. 
The Colony of New Plymouth . 72 

CHAPTER X. 
The Colont of ISIassachusetts Bay 81 

CHAPTEB XI, 
The Colonies of Connecticut and Bhode Islani>. ... 91 

CHAPTEB Xn. 
The Colonies of New Haijipshiiie and Maine . ♦ . . 99 

CHAPTEB Xni. 
The New England Confederacy 106 

CHAPTEB Xiy. 
The Colonies of New Yokk and New Jeksbt .... Ill 

CHAPTEB XV. 
The Colonies of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland . 121 

CHAPTEB XYI. 
The Southern Colonies ......... 130 

CHAPTEB XVH. 
The Declaration of Independence 140 



CONTEJfTS. 7 

PART III. 

STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE 

Establishment of State Governments 149 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Legislative Department 154 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Executive Department 164 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Judicial Department 171 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Counties 189 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Townships, Cities, and Villages , 194 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Elections and Nominations; Ordinance op 1787 . . . 209 

PART IV. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAPTER XXV. 
The History of the Union before the Constitution . . 227 

CHAPTER XXV L 
The Origin and Objects op the Constitution .... 237 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVn. page 
The Legislative Departivient 243 

CHAPTER XXVin. 
The Executive akd Judicial Departments. .... 251 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
The Powers of Congress 258 

CHAPTER XXX. 
The Powers and Duties of the President 276 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Provisions respecting States 286 

CHAPTER XXXn. 
Relation of National and State Governments ^ . . 293 



Declaration of Independence 302 

Constitution of the United States . . . . . . 306 



PART I. 
PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



Cim GOYERHENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

DEFINITION OF TERMS. 



The word " govern " is derived from the Latin 
guhernare^ meaning to steer, to pilot, and 
then to guide, direct, control. To govern, 
therefore, is to control, and government is control. 
Thus the divine government is the control exercised 
by the Creator over his creatures. Family government 
is the control exercised by the head of a family over its 
members. School government is the control exercised 
by the teacher over the members of the school. When 
a pilot would guide his vessel from one port to another, 
he must know what courses he may take, he must 
choose one of these, and he must have the means of 
compelling the ship to take this course. These three 
things — intelligence, will, and power — are necessary 
to all control, and therefore to all government. 

When the controlling will expresses its choice, says 
what it would have done, this expression 
becomes a rule of action for the governed, 
to be followed until there is a new and different choice 

11 



12 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

expressed. This expression of the, controlling will is a 
law ; and government is control exercised by means of 
the establishment and enforcement of laws. Thus a 
father chooses to have his children rise at a certain 
hour in the morning, and retire at a certain hour in the 
evening. He tells them plainly what he would have 
them do ; and this expression of his will becomes a law 
of the family, and remains so, without a new expres- 
sion, until he chooses to set aside the rule. 

But the mere expression of the will may not insure 
control. The child needs to feel that he 
must obey. This feeling can come only 
when a penalty is connected with disobedience. This 
penalty consists in the infliction of pain in one form or 
another. Thus the father says that the child who dis- 
obeys the rule shall lose a part of his play-hour. But 
saying this will do no good, unless the child is sure 
that the father will do as he says. There must be a 
certainty that the penalty will be inflicted. 

The difference between civil government and the 
others mentioned above is indicated in the 
meaning of the word " czvi7." This is 
derived from the Latin civilis, — pertaining to citizens ; 
and a citizen is a member of a state or nation. The 
following definition of a state is nearly complete : * 
" A state is a community of persons living within cer- 
tain hmits of territory, under a permanent organiza- 
tion, which aims to secure the prevalence of justice by 
self-imposed laws." Some would insert after "justice," 
" and otherwise promote the common weal." 

If we examine this definition, we see that the state 
does not consist of those who directly exercise power, — 

* "Woolsey's luteruatioual Law. 



DEFINITION OF TERMS. 13 

not the king, not Congress, not those who vote, — but 
all the people, a community. The definition excludes 
wandering tribes of men, and all corporations, which 
have no limits of territory, and whose object is not 
justice. 

If all the laws of the state are self-imposed, that is, if 
there is no power outside its body of peo- 
ple which di€tates to it in any way, the 
state is said to be sovereign. This word does not admit 
of comparison : one state cannot be more sovereign 
than another ; and a small state, in this respect, stands 
on an equality with a large one. The sovereignty of a 
state consists in the absolute right to control its own 
members, and in the absolute right to resist any inter- 
ference in its affairs by any other state. The first of 
these rights constitutes its internal sovereignty ; the 
second, its external sovereignty. From these state- 
ments it will be seen that Boston is not a state, that 
Massachusetts is not a sovereign state. The United 
States is a sovereign state or nation. Great Britain 
and Russia are both sovereign states. 

Having now defined a state, we are prepared to 
define civil government as control by law exercised by 
the state over its members as such. 

SUMMAEY. 

1. Government is control. 

2. Intelligence, will, and power are necessary to gov- 
ernment. 

3. Laws are expressions of the controlling will, which 
become rules of action for the governed. 

4. A law, to secure control, must be accompanied 
by a penalty, and a certainty that the penalty will bo 
inflicted. o 



14 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

5. A state is a community of persons living within 
certain limits of territory, under a permanent organiza- 
tion, which aims to secure the prevalence of justice by 
self-imposed laws. 

6. A sovereign state is one in which all the laws are 
self-imposed. 

7. Civil government is control by law, exercised by 
a state over its members. 



r 



CHAPTER 11. 

SOUECE OF AUTHOEITY IN THE STATE. 

The question naturally arises, What right has the 
state to control me ? Why may not I do as I please ? 
To answer this question, we must learn how the state 
comes to exist. 

The members of the state are human beings, and 
they are, therefore, social beings. They Necessity of 
are created with a nature which only the Society 
society of fellow-beings can satisfy. They are made to 
love and hate and fear ; and they must have those near 
them upon whom to exercise these feelings. They 
have thoughts, and language to express them ; and 
they must be with those who can understand their lan- 
guage, and respond to their thoughts. 

If a man lives alone, all these human faculties become 
dwarfed and stunted for want of exercise ; and he is 
not so much of a man as he might have been. All 
experience shows that the highest degree of manhood 
can be attained only in society, and that out of it man 
grows brutish. A life of solitude, like that of a hermit, 
always seems unnatural and undesirable. There are 
stories of human beings who have been exposed in 
infancy, and have grown up among the brutes ; and they 
are found to have lost the human likeness. They walk 

15 



16 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

upon their hands and feet ; their language consists of 
inarticulate cries and noises ; they are afraid of men. 
Instead of human reason, they have only the instinct 
of the brute. Centuries ago, Aristotle wrote, " Who- 
ever lives voluntarily out of civil society must have a 
vicious disposition, or be an existence superior to man." 
Society, then, is a necessity to man, both for his preser- 
vation and for his happiness. 

But there are two causes, either of which would make 
Government society a failure. Men are selfish, as weU as 
a Necessity. social. Every man has a disposition, more 
or less strong, to have his own way ; and these ways 
necessarily conflict with each other. If the strongest 
should succeed, the weak would suffer. Hence quarrels 
would arise, and society would become a scene of strife 
and confusion ; and the very thing which was designed 
to preserve human life, and be a means of good to men, 
would come to be a source of evil. 

"When men come together in society, they have com- 
mon wants, which they cannot satisfy as individuals. 
For instance, the common defence must be provided for ; 
roads and bridges must be built ; money must be coined. 
Men are not only selfish, but they differ in ability to judge 
wisely; and it would be impossible for all to agree as 
to the best time and way of doing these things. They 
would, therefore, remain undone. 

To remedy these two evils, society must organize 
itself permanently, first, to control the evil inclined and 
protect the weak; and then to devise and carry out 
plans for the common necessity and convenience. 
Society so organized is a state^ and the control which it 
exercises is ciml government. The origin of this is 
e\ddent. It is a necessity of society, and society is a 
necessity of man's nature. 



SOUECE OF AUTHOEITY IN THE STATE. IT 

We are now prepared to answer the question as to the 
authority of the state. Since civil govern- Authority 

ment is necessary in order that the ends from God. 

for which society exists may be secured, and since these 
ends are determined by the nature of man as created, it 
follows that government comes from God, and that the 
state derives its authority from him. 

Men in societ}^ find themselves under a law of their 

nature which bids them organize and 

. . .1.1 Diity of Society, 

govern. As m every other case, they are 

free to obey or disobey, being answerable only to God, 

who has made the law. But if they disobey they suffer 

the consequences. They have no security for life and 

property ; virtue and intelligence are wanting ; vice and 

crime prevail : in a word, they are savages ; and sooner 

or later they become the prey of some society which has 

better fulfilled the end of its creation. All history is 

full of illustrations of this truth. Our own Indian 

tribes bear witness that men cannot violate this first 

duty of society with impunity. 

Government, therefore, is a trust committed to society 

by the Creator ; and society must not only Government a 

accept the trust, but it is responsible for Trust. 

the way in which it executes it. It is in duty bound 

to have the best possible government; though what 

this shall be, it may determine for itself. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Men are social beings ; therefore society is a neces- 
sity. 

2. Men are selfish, and differ in opinion ; therefore 
government is necessary. 



18 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

3. The state derives its authority from God. 

4. Society is under a law requiring it to establish 
government. 

5. Civil government is a trust for which society is 
responsible to God. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE GOYEENMENT : ITS FUNCTIONS AND DEPART 

MENTS. 

In the preceding chapter, we have seen that govern- 
ment is a trust committed to the state. The object of 
the present chapter is to show by what agencies the 
state fulfils this trust. In all cases society vests its 
powers in a 'portion of its members. 

Those persons, more or less numerous, who directly 
exercise control over the members of the The Govern- 
state, constitute the government thereof. ^6^*- 
Thus, in the United States, the President and all offi- 
cers under his control. Congress, and the courts of 
justice, together form the government. 

It is necessary to fix carefully in the mind the dis- 
tinction between the state and the govern- 

, rm (» • . 1 1 T 1 T J' Distinction be- 

ment. Ine lormer is the whole body oi tweentheGov- 

people organized for the purpose of con- emment and 
trol ; the latter is that part of the whole 
body through which the control is exercised. The state 
is supreme: the government is subordinate. The right 
to control rests primarily with the state ; secondarily, 
with the government. All powers belong to the state, 
being given by the Creator : whatever power the govern- 
ment may have it receives from the state. The govern- 
ment may change : the state remains. 



20 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The state is responsible to God ; the government, to 
the state. This is the meaning of the expression in the 
Declaration of Independence, that governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

As to the way in which they have come to possess 
Authority how these powers, governments may be divided 
obtained. jj^^o two classes : first, those to which the 

people have made formal grants of specified and limited 
authority; second, those which hold their powers by 
the tacit consent of the state. It is probable, that, in 
the early history of the world, all governments were of 
the latter class. Sometimes a single man, having, in 
a superior degree, the elements of control, physical 
strength and skill, courage, and sagacity, came to be 
recognized by a simple pastoral people as having au- 
thority over them. He became their leader in war, and 
their judge in times of peace. It was hkely that his chil- 
dren would share with him the respect and confidence of 
the people, and in their turn become rulers. Thus, in 
a simple way, hereditary kingship would come to exist. 

In many cases, power has been seized by force, and 
the people, finding resistance useless, have yielded to 
the usurpation. Succeeding generations have forgotten 
that the government was not legitimate, and have suf- 
fered its authority to be unquestioned. 

There are many states now existing, in which this 
process has been going on for hundreds and thousands 
of years ; one individual after another assuming control, 
until the people fail to recognize their own rights and 
their own responsibility. Such are Russia, Turkey, and 
the states of Asia. Most of the governments of Europe, 
and all those of America, are illustrations of the first 
class. 



ITS FUNCTIONS AND DEPARTMENTS. 21 

Since to govern is to control by law, the functions of 
the government are, to make laws, to in- Functions and 
terpret and apply them, and to execute Departments, 
them ; and these functions call for three departments, 
— legislative, judicial, and executive. 

The relation of these departments to each other may 
be shown by an illustration. The legisla- Relation of De- 
tive department may make a law saying that P^^^tments. 
no person shall pasture his own cattle on another man's 
land, and affix a penalty thereto. John Smith is accused 
of pasturing his horse in his neighbor's field, and thereby 
violating law. Justice requires, that, if guilty, he shall 
be punished. The question of his guilt is decided by the 
judicial department. He is brought before a court, 
where he may deny the act charged, or, admitting it, 
plead that the word " cattle " in the law does not include 
horses. In the latter case, the first business of the court 
is to explain the law. If the decision is that horses are 
cattle, the act charged being admitted, then the law 
applies to Smith, and the penalty must be inflicted. A 
commission is issued by the court to an executive ofiicer, 
who proceeds to carry out the sentence by imprisoning 
the man, or by collecting money from him as a fine. 

This case may be used to illustrate another most im- 
portant principle. After the court has decided that the 
word "cattle" includes horses, it becomes a law that 
no man shall pasture his horse on another's land. If a 
similar case arises, it is only necessary to refer to this 
decision ; it becomes a precedent for judgment. 

Thus it appears that the courts of justice are all 
the time making law. In fact, much the i^^ws made 
larger part of all the rules and principles ^y Courts. 



22 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

that guide the administration of justice in any state is 
established, not by the legislative department, but by 
the judiciary. 

This difference in origin gives rise to a division of law 
into two great departments, — statute law, and law that 
is not statute, included by writers on the subject under 
the term unwritten law. 

Statute law includes all enactments made by legis- 
lative bodies, and promulgated by them 
statute Law. , mi, j? j p .• 

as laws. Inese are lormed irom time 

to time, as circumstances make them necessary. In 
process of time some become useless, and are repealed, 
or changed, or they remain on the statute-book without 
force. In order to simplify this mass of laws, they are 
sometimes revised, arranged in a systematic form, and 
adopted in a body, as comprising all the statute law in 
force at the time. The so-called General Statutes of 
Massachusetts and other States are illustrations of this 
process. 

The unwritten law consists of all those judicial decis- 
TheTJnwrit- ioi^s which have become authoritative 
ten Law. through all the periods of the nation's 

history. This branch of law is a gradual growth, keep- 
ing pace with the development of the people's civiliza- 
tion. 

As new relations come to exist in society, new cases 
are constantly coming before the courts for adjustment. 
In the absence of statutes, the courts must establish 
principles, which come to have all the force of laws. 
The chief difference between them and statutes is, that 
the legislative department may at any time make laws 
which shall set them aside. Statutes covering the 
same ground are always superior to the unwritten law. 



ITS FUNCTIONS AND DEPARTMENTS. 23 

The term " common law," as used in England and 
the United States, includes all that por- 
tion of the unwritten law of England that 
has not been set aside by statutes, or by more recent 
decisions. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The government of a state consists of those mem- 
bers who directly exercise control within it. 

2. The government is subordinate to the state, re- 
ceiving its authority from it, and being responsible to it. 

3. Governments have derived their authority from 
the state in two ways : first, by formal grants ; second, 
by tacit consent. 

4. There are three departments of government : the 
legislative, which makes the laws ; the judicial, which 
interprets and applies them ; the executive, which puts 
them into operation. 

5. Laws are made by the courts of justice, as well as 
by the legislature. 

6. Laws made by the legislature are called statutes ; 
all others are included in the term " the unwritten 
law." 




i^/ 



CHAPTER IV. 

FOEMS OF GOVEENMENTS, AND MEANS BY WHICH 
THEY ARE LOHTED. 

The following forms of governments have been 
described by writers upon the subject : — 

An Absolute Monarchy is a government in which the 
Absolute laws are made by one person, and inter- 

Monarchy, preted and executed by officers responsible 

only to him. Examples : Russia, Turkey, China. 

A Limited Monarchy is a government in which there 
Limited Mon- is an hereditary executive, and a legislative 
archy. department whose members are chosen 

periodically by the people, the judiciary being responsi- 
ble directly to the sovereign. Examples: England, 
Sweden and Norway, Denmark. Rarely, in such gov- 
ernments, the sovereign is elected. 

A Representative Democracy, or Republic, is a gov- 
ernment in which both the chief executive 
®^^ ' and the members of the legislative depart- 

ment are chosen periodically by the people. The judi- 
ciary may be appointed by the executive, or be elected 
by the people. Examples : United States, Mexico, States 
of Central America. 

A government in which the whole body of people 

meet to make the laws is sometimes called 

emocracy. ^ Puve Democracy. This is possible only 

24 



FORMS OF GOVERNMENTS. 25 

in a small state. The government of some of the earlj 
English colonies in America was of this sort. 

There have been states in which all the functions 
of government were in the hands of a few 
people, self-appointed. Such a govern- 
ment is an Oligarchy. If a class of nobles rules the 
state, the government is called an Aristocracy. 

Some governments combine several different features. 
Thus, in the government of England, the executive 
department represents the monarchy. The legislative 
department consists of two bodies, one aristocratic, the 
other republican. In most states, the legislature con- 
sists of two bodies ; in others, of one. 

These various forms may be divided into two classes, 
— absolut-e, and limited. In a certain Absolute Gov- 
sense, no government now existing is ernments. 
really absolute. In all so called absolute governments 
there are immemorial customs which restrict the sov- 
ereign in the exercise of power, and each ruler follows in 
the steps of his predecessor. If his people are at aU 
intelligent, he will not dare to make radical changes. 
But there is no way to call him to account except by re- 
bellion, and history shows that nations will submit to 
oppression for a long period rather than take up arms 
against the established government. 

An absolute government may furnish civil liberty to 
its subjects, and may do much to promote their happi- 
ness , but, at any time, a different man may come into 
power, and anarchy or oppression ensue. There is 
no security beyond the present. For this reason, such 
a government cannot be, in the highest sense, a good 
one, though it may be the best possible under the cir- 
cumstances; indeed, it may be the only form possible 
over a rude, lawless ])eoplo. 3 



26 CIVIL GOVEEKMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Since the possession of power creates a desire for 

more, the tendency of all governments is 
Constitutions. j. ,, , t, i 

away irom tne people, it becomes neces- 
sary for a state which values its welfare, to impose some 
restraints upon its government. It must express its 
will definitely, and hold the government answerable as 
subject to law. This law by which the state controls 
the government is its constitution. It usually specifies 
the rights of the people, which the government is to 
respect ; states how the departments shall be constituted, 
thus fixing the form of the government ; enumerates in 
detail the functions of each ; provides a mode of calling 
the government to account, and of making needed 
changes; prescribes the manner in which the will of 
the state shall be expressed ; and makes provision for 
changing the constitution itself. 

Thus the constitution of the United States asserts the 
rights of the people ; says that there shall be a Presi- 
dent, a Congress of two houses, and certain courts of 
justice ; gives to the President power to pardon, to act 
as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and to 
execute the laws ; gives Congress powers over finance, 
territory, and commerce ; fixes the term of office of all 
members of the government ; states who shall vote, 
and how the constitution may be amended. 

It will be seen that the constitution becomes the 
fundamental law of a state, and that all others must 
accord with it. If they do not, they are void. This 
question of constitutionality of laws is usually decided 
by the judicial department, never by the citizen. 

Constitutions are of two kinds. Some are written 
Written Con- instruments drawn up and adopted at one 
stitutions. time, either by the people for themselves 



FORMS OF GOVEENMENTS. 27 

when establishing a new form of government, as in the 
United States ; or by the existing government, as in the 
case of Austria, which, after the exercise of arbitrary 
power, wished to conciliate the discontented people of 
Hungary. 

Others are -unwritten, having no distinct, definite 
form, but consisting of all legislative acts, unwritten Con- 
royal grants, and judicial decisions, by stitutions. 
which at any time the form of the government has been 
established, and by which the rights of the people are 
guaranteed, and the powers of the government restricted. 
Such is the British constitution, which has been growing 
into its present form for a thousand years. It bears the 
marks of all the social and political changes which have 
succeeded each other during the rule of Saxon, Norman, 
and English sovereigns. In another place the develop- 
ment of this constitution will be noticed. 

The unwritten constitution is open to the objection 
that it may be changed by the government itself, and 
thus cease to express the people's will. Thus a certain 
parliament changed its term of office from three to 
seven years, thereby prolonging its power, and prevent- 
ing a new expression of the people's will. In the 
United States, with its written constitution, such a 
change could only be made by the people. 

How shall the government be made to obey the con- 
stitution, so that it may be effective to pre- checks upon the 
vent arbitrary rule ? This is done in two Government, 
ways. Usually, the departments are so constituted that 
each acts as a check upon the other. Thus in the United 
States, the President must approve all bills passed by a 
majority in Congress, before they can become laws. 
The Senate must consent to all treaties, and to all im- 
portant appointments made by the President. Without 



28 CIVIL GOVEEKMENT TS THE UNITED STATES. 

such consent tliej are not valid. The judges are ap- 
pointed by the President and Senate, and they decide 
upon the constitutionality of laws made by Congress. 
If either branch of the government attempts to violate 
the constitution, the others may in this way prevent it. 

But the most effective way of preventing the exercise 
Limitation of of unconstitutional authority is by hmit- 
Term. jng the term of office of the members of 

the government. At the expiration of a specified time, 
the office becomes vacant, and the people are called 
upon to re-fill it. They may re-appoint the former in- 
cumbent. This is a verdict of approval of his adminis- 
tration. K they select a new man, the act may imply 
dissatisfaction. When the people have this power of 
changing the government at their will, it becomes im- 
possible for any usurpation of authority to continue. It 
is only when men may be re-elected to the same office 
that this limitation of term becomes a salutary check. 
If they must give up the position, whether faithful or 
not, the temptation is strong to use it for selfish ends. 
The election ceases to be a popular judgment upon the 
character of the administration. For this reason, the 
principle of rotation in office is one of the most mischiev- 
ous that can guide the action of an intelligent people. 

We have described a constitution as a formal expres- 
Expression of sion of the will of the state, granting au- 
Popuiar WiU. thority to the government ; and we have 
also said that under limited governments the state is 
frequently called upon to pass judgment upon the ad- 
ministration. It is important to show how the state 
expresses its will. What is the voice of the people ? 

The whole body of people comprising the state in- 
cludes some who are not capable of judging wisely 



FORMS OF GOVERNMENTS. 29 

concerning the general good; to this class evidently 
belong children and imbeciles. Every state is therefore 
divided into two classes, — those who have voters and 
a voice in public affairs, and those who Non-Voters, 
have not ; the voting, and the non-voting. The line 
of division varies greatly in different states. In all, 
women are included in the latter class. Sometimes 
color is made a ground of disqualification for voting, 
sometimes poverty, sometimes a certain form of reli- 
gious belief, sometimes the inability to read and write. 
In all cases those who do vote decide who may vote. In 
every state, for the non-voting class the government is 
absolute ; they are responsible for it onl}^ on the ground 
of tacit consent. Those who have a voice in the con- 
duct of public affairs are said to have political liberty. 

Voting is expressing a choice ; and it seldom hap- 
pens that a large number of people are Majority 
unanimous in their opinions. In case of ^^l®. 
disagreement, either the few or the many must give up 
to the others, or there will be no decision. Justice 
requires that the will of the smaller number shall sub- 
mit to that of the larger. Hence the common rule that 
the majority decides. 

It appears, therefore, that, when we speak of an 
election as expressing the will of the state, we mean 
that it is the choice of more than half of the voting 
population, submitted to by all the others. This sup- 
poses that all persons vote who can do so, which is far 
from being the case. Thus in Massachusetts the 
returns give the following figures : — 

Population (1875) 1,651,653 

Voting class 351,056 

Votes for successful candidate for governor . . . 83,639 
3* 



30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

It appears that only one in twenty of the members of 
the State actually expressed a preference for the gov- 
ernor chosen in 1875. In other years a larger proj)or- 
tion of the voters had voted, but seldom more than one 
in eight of the members of the State. It is one of the 
political problems of the present day, to provide some 
means by which a larger portion of the people may be 
represented in the government. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The forms of government that have existed are, 
absolute monarchy, limited monarchy, republic, democ- 
racy, aristocracy, oligarchy. 

2. Absolute governments are restricted by custom, 
but cannot be called to account except by rebellion. 

3. A constitution is a law by which the state controls 
the government. 

4. The constitution is the fundamental law, and all 
others must accord with it. 

5. Some constitutions are written instruments ; others 
are without definite form. 

6. The departments of a government should be able 
to check one another. 

7. The authority of government is limited by limit- 
ing" the term of service of its members. 

8. The whole body of people in the state is divided 
into voters and non-voters. 

9. The voice of a majority of those who vote is con- 
sidered to express the will of the state. • 

10. This is usually a very small part of the whole 
body. 



/ I 

CHAPTER V. 

OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

We have seen that the people commit to a part of 
their number their authority, to be used for the com 
mon good. We have now to examine this trust in 
detail, and ascertain what a government should do to 
be a good one. 

Its several obligations may be classified in three divis- 
ions : first, to secure iustice to the mem- 

, Three Duties, 

bers of the state ; second, to promote the 

general vv^elfare ; third, to defend the state. 

In order to secure justice, it is the duty of the gov- 
ernment to protect every individual, with- justice, how 
out distinction, in the enjoyment of his secured, 
natural rights. These rights are included under four 
heads, — the right of personal security, the right of 
personal liberty, the right of private property, and the 
right of religious belief and worship. 

The Right of Personal Security is the right to enjoy 
life, body, health, and reputation. It personal Secu- 
means not merely the right to live, but to ^^^y- 
live in safety and tranquillit}^, without fear and without 
the necessity for self-defence. No greater reproach can 
be brought against a state than to say that human life is 
not secure within its territory. When deeds of vio- 

31 



32 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

lence and blood are frequent and unpunished, the 
government fails to meet its first great duty. 

Life is rendered more secure by making murder the 
Modes of Making highest crime known to the law, and pun- 
Life Secure. ishable by death. If the penalty for homi- 
cide were no greater than for theft, murder would be 
much more frequent than now. The government shows 
its regard for the safety of human life and limb by 
the care with which it investigates all cases of loss 
of life from doubtful causes. If a human body ia 
found under circumstances which make it 
probable that a crime has been committed, 
a coroner, under the authority of the government, at 
once proceeds to an inquiry, to learn the cause of 
death, that the guilty party, if there be such, may be 
brought to justice. If a railroad accident has occa- 
sioned loss of life, an inquest is held to ascertain the 
cause of the disaster, and to fix the responsibility, so 
that justice may be done. 

The government also compels corporations to take pre-* 
Security of cautions for the safety of their own em- 

Travellers. ployees, and of the public whom they serve. 

Thus railway companies are obliged to have bells on 
locomotives, and to have them rung at highwa}^ cross- 
ings, to place signs over such crossings, and to station 
flagmen at some of them, to stop their trains before 
crossing another railroad, to provide a certain number 
of brakemen for each passenger train. Owners of 
steamboats are required to equip them with boats, 
buckets, life-preservers, and all appliances by which the 
safety of passengers may be promoted. 

The government maintains buoys and lighthouses, 
and removes obstructions fi'om harbors and rivers for the 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 33 

safety of mariners. It proliibits fast driving in public 
streets, and stations officers to assist foot-passengers over 
crossings. All these provisions have the same general 
end. 

Nor is a good government any less mindful of the 
health of the people. It takes precautions Modes of Secur- 
to prevent the spread of contagious dis- "ig Health, 
eases. It appoints officers whose business it is to 
require cleanliness in cities ; and it may cause filthy, 
overcrowded, or unsafe houses to be vacated. It 
restricts the sale of poisons, prohibits the sale of un- 
wholesome food, and requires certain kinds of business 
— as powder-making and bone-boiling — to be carried 
on at a distance from habitations. It supports hospi- 
tals and asylums for the comfort and recovery of the 
sick. 

Next to life, honest men value reputation. Every per- 
son has a right to be thought as well of as 
his character wiU allow. Therefore he may ^^ 

demand protection against all false and malicious ut- 
terances which tend to destroy his peace or to injure 
his business. Such utterances, if spoken, constitute 
slander, and, if written or printed, libel ; and both 
should be punished by the government. 

The Right of Personal Liberty is, primarily, the right 
to go and come without restraint ; but Personal Lib- 
its meaning has been extended to cover ®^^y- 
freedom of speech and of the press, the right to as- 
semble peaceably for discussion, the right to petition 
the government, and freedom from unreasonable search 
of property and papers. It is only within two hundred 
years that these last have been considered natural 
rights, and still in many states they are not allowed. 



34: CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The most important means by which personal liberty 

„ ^ „ is directly secured to the snbiect is the writ 

Habeas Corpus. '^ mi • • • 

01 naoeas corpus, lliis is a written instru- 
ment issued by a judge or court, directed to a person 
holding another in custody, commanding him to bring 
the prisoner before the judge or court at a certain time 
and place, to show why he holds him. How this operates 
may be shown by illustrations. A minor enlisted in the 
United States army without the consent of his parents 
or guardian, an act which was contrary to law. A judge 
issued a writ of habeas corpus to the commanding officer, 
who, in obedience to the summons, brought the boy 
before the court, and stated the manner of enlistment. 
The judge discharged the boy. A girl about fourteen 
years of age had been bound to service in Canada. The 
man whom she served went with her to Massachusetts, 
where her mother obtained a writ of habeas corpus to 
recover the child. The man appeared before the court 
with the child, where it was made apparent that she was 
well treated, and that she preferred to remain with her 
master. The court refused to give her to the mother. 
In Boston the sheriff had arrested and imprisoned a man 
in consequence of a suit concerning a partnership in 
which he was interested. His friends procured a writ of 
habeas corpus ; being brought before the court, and his 
case heard, he was discharged, on the ground that the 
circumstances were such that imprisonment was illegal. 

Since the officers of the law may thus arrest and de- 
tain persons mthout sufficient cause, and so the govern- 
ment itself infringe upon the liberty of its subjects, the 
privilege of demanding this writ is considered one of the 
strongest safeguards that a people can have. More 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 35 

than any other one thing this marks the distinction 
between a free government and a despotism, and to 
withdraw it is always perilous to the liberties of the 
people. 

The Right of Private Property covers the acquiring, 
using, and disposing of any thing that a Right of Pri- 
person may call his own, including time vate Property, 
and labor. This right may be violated in so many 
ways that the government has more call to exercise its 
control in this direction than in all others combined. 
A man's property may be stolen, or burned, or damaged, 
or taken from him on false pretences, or borrowed and 
not returned. His wages, or his interest, or his rents, 
may not be paid ; and, if he succeed in holding his own 
while he lives, at his death it may be scattered beyond 
his control. Against all these evils it is the duty of 
the government to protect every member of the state. 
It must guard his right to labor, against all who from 
any motive would hinder him ; and it must carry out 
his will as to the disposition of his property after his 
death. That this general right may be secured, laws 
are made respecting theft, arson, and fraud ; concern- 
ing corporations, and the relations of debtor and cred- 
itor, master and servant, landlord and tenant ; laws 
regulating tenures, deeds and wills; usury and tres- 
pass laws ; and laws respecting stocks, bonds, and 
notes. 

Religious liberty, as understood by the people of the 
United States, is the right of every indi- Religious 

vidual to hold such form of religious belief Liberty, 

as he chooses, or to have none at all, and to worship as 
he pleases, or not at all. The goverimient is bound to 
treat all forms of belief alike, and to protect each per- 



36 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

son in his own. Practically, by Sunday laws and offi- 
cial and judicial oaths, the governments of most of the 
States of the Union recognize Christianity ; but there is 
no restriction of civil or pohtical rights because of any 
form of belief or unbelief. 

In describing rights as natural, it is meant that they 
Natural ^^"6 necessary to the fullest development of 

Liberty. the individual. His human nature demands 

them ; and, when free to do so, he instinctively exer- 
cises them. The freedom to do so without any restraint 
is sometimes described as natural liberty. This is sup- 
posed to represent the condition of men without society, 
each person gratifying his inclinations to the fullest 
extent. 

But, since every man is born into society, he is 
Natural Rights hedged about on all sides by limitations 
Limited. to these natural rights. Natural liberty is 

only an idea. A man may do as he pleases in any direc- 
tion, only as far as he does not interfere with the riglit 
of another man in the same direction. Each separate 
right that has been spoken of is limited at just this 
point. I have a right to walk ; but I may not walk 
over my neighbor's field nor through his house without 
leave. I have a right to acquire, use, and dispose of 
property and time ; but I cannot get money by fraud, 
nor keep what I find, nor burn my house, nor spend 
my time in idleness as a vagabond. I have a right to 
sjoeak freely upon any subject I choose ; but I cannot 
utter slander with impunity. I have a right to worship 
God without restraint according to the dictates of my 
own conscience ; but I may not practise a religion 
whose rites are obscene or cruel. 

These natural ris^hts are also limited in another direc- 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 87 

tion. While it is the duty of the government to pro- 
tect the individual in the enjoyment of his property, it 
may compel him to give up a portion of it for the pub- 
lic good. This right of the government, thus limiting 
that of the subject, exists in two forms: first, as the 
right of taxation; second, as the right of Right of Taxa- 
eminent domain. The first is based on the tion. 
facts, that the administration of government is for the 
general good, and that whatever benefits the whole bene- 
fits each member of society. Hence the government 
may require each to bear his proportionate share of the 
public expense. If he refuses to do this, his property 
may be sold for the purpose. 

Upon this subject Chief Justice Marshall says, " The 
power of taxing the people and their property is essen- 
tial to the very existence of government, and may be 
legitimately exercised on the objects to which it is 
applicable, to the utmost extent to which the govern- 
ment may choose to carry it." 

The Right of Eminent Domain allows the govern- 
ment to take the private property of an Rigiit of Emi- 
individual, and use it for the public good, nent Domain. 
Thus, if a schoolhouse is to be built, the government 
may choose a site, and then compel the owner to give 
up the land for the purpose. This right differs from 
that of taxation in that it is exercised upon some indi- 
viduals, and not upon all ; and also in that compensation 
is rendered for the property taken, the price being fixed 
by disinterested persons chosen for the purpose. The 
government frequently exercises this right through corpo- 
rations. Thus railway companies are allowed to take 
the land they need along a specified route. 

It thus appears that personal rights are limited in 



38 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

two directions, — first, by the rights of one's neighbors; 
second, by the necessities of the state itself. The 
free enjoyment of one's natural rights, subject to these 
two limitations, constitutes civil liberty. 
' It is liberty under law ; and we are pre- 
pared to state, as the first requisite of a good govern- 
ment, that it shall furnish this to every member of the 
state. 

But these rights are not only limited : they may be 
Forfeiture of forfeited. When a man, in the exercise 
Rights. Qf i^is freedom, has violated the right of 

another, he has become an enemy to the state ; and gov- 
ernment, to protect society, may take away his personal 
liberty by imprisonment, or his property by fine, or 
even his life. 

SUMMAEY. 

1. The duties of the government are, to secure 
justice, to promote the general welfare, to defend the 
state. 

2. Justice is secured by protecting every individual 
in his right to personal security, personal liberty, pri- 
vate property, and his own religious belief and worship. 

3. It is the duty of government to care for the life, 
health, and reputation of its subjects. 

4. Personal liberty is freedom to go' and come, to 
assemble peaceably for discussion, to petition the gov- 
ernment, and freedom of speech and of the press. 

5. Personal liberty is secured by means of the writ 
of habeas corpus. 

6. The right of private property covers the acquiring, 
using, and disposing of property, time, and labor. 

7. These are called natural rights because every man 
instinctively exercises them. 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 39 

8. They are limited in society, first, by a regard to 
the right of others ; second, by the right of the gov- 
ernment to take property for public purposes. 

9. This right of the government exists as the right 
of taxation, and the right of eminent domain. 

10. Civil liberty is the enjoyment of one's natural 
rights in society. It is liberty under law. 

11. These rights may be forfeited by the commission 
of crime. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVEENIVIENT (CONTINUED). 

In securing justice, the government is taking the best 

possible means to promote the public hap- 
Promotionof ■^. ^ ^. ., tt • 

General Wei- pmess and improvement. Civil liberty is 

^^^^ the ground of national prosperity. In 

states like Mexico, where anarchy and misrule have 

long prevailed, the people are poor, and the country 

is unproductive. 

Yet there are means by which the government may 
Measures of ^^t more directly to this end. Among 
Public Utility, these are, educating the people, and car- 
rying out measures of public utility and convenience. 
The most obvious of these are the establishment of 
means of communication, as roads and bridges, postal 
arrangements, and the coining of money. In all these, 
that uniformity which is so necessary can only be 
secured by having the government assume the control. 

The government can do much to foster the industries 
Fostering of the nation. Thus the United States, in 

Industries. ^he interest of commerce, survej^s its coast, 

provides maps and charts, clears its rivers and harbors, 
builds breakwaters, enacts pilotage laws, prepares and 
publishes weather reports, and sends its officers and 
ships of war to foreign ports to protect its seamen. It 

40 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 41 

promotes agriculture by giving farms to actual settlers, 
and by collecting and scattering new seeds and plants, 
and disseminating information of new and improved 
modes of carrying on the business. It has given boun- 
ties to persons engaged in certain kinds of fishing. It 
aims to encourage manufactures by placing duties upon 
foreign goods, so that home productions may have an 
advantage in the market. It has given lands and 
money to aid in building railroads and canals, and in 
establishing steamship lines to foreign ports. 

The duty of the government to provide for the edu- 
cation of the people rests upon the same 
basis as its obligations to care for the pub- 
lic health and public morals. Ignorance is so fruitful a 
source of poverty and crime, that the government is 
striking at the root of many evils when it labors to 
promote the general intelligence of the community. It 
is bound, therefore, to provide the rudiments of an 
education for all the children under its authority. 
Beyond this the best governments furnish opportunities 
to all who desire a higher culture, not only intellectual, 
but in professional and industrial pursuits. 

If the government is bound to furnish schools for its 
youth, it is also bound to compel their attendance. It 
should not allow the carelessness or avarice of parents 
to deprive their children of what is so essential to their 
welfare and happiness. 

There are other and stronger reasons why a demo- 
cratic republic should encourage popular . 
education. ALL the interests of the state tiouiuRepub- 
are directly in the hands of the mass of ^^^^' 
the people. The officers are chosen by the people and 
from the people. What the voters are, tlio govorn- 

4* 



42 CIVIL GOYEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

ment will be. The ignorance and vice that prevail 
among the people will be represented in the govern- 
ment, as surely as the intelligence and the virtue. A 
corrupt public sentiment produces corrupt legislation 
and corrupt administration ; and these produce weak- 
ness and decay. Hence the interests of every citizen 
are, in a measure, in the hands of every other citizen ; 
and to protect himself he must use all his influence 
to make his neighbor as intelHgent and virtuous as 
himself. The education needs to be not only intel- 
lectual, but moral and religious. All that the statutes 
of Massachusetts require is needed in every republic. 
That State makes it the duty of all instructors of youth, 
to exert their best endeavors to impress upon the minds 
of their pupils " the principles of piety and justice, and 
a sacred regard for truth ; love of their country, 
humanity, and universal benevolence ; sobriety, indus- 
try, and frugality ; chastity, moderation, and temper- 
ance ; and those other virtues which are the ornament 
of human society, and the basis upon which a republican 
constitution is founded." 

There are some educating influences besides schools. 

Public libraries, museums, and galleries of 
General Culture. , -, , , . xi i • ^ i 

art do much to promote the general intel- 
ligence, and to refine and cultivate the taste. Public 
parks and gardens furnish means of healthful and inno- 
cent enjoyment. It may seem that these are outside 
the province of government, and that it should not tax 
the people for such purposes : but experience has shown 
that cultivated minds and hearts, and refined tastes, 
result in softened manners ; that educated people 
understand better their relations and obligations in 
society, and have more respect for law and order, than 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 43 

the ignorant ; and that from the lowest motive, econ- 
omy, it is better to prevent crime than to punish it. 

The third comprehensive duty of the government is to 
defend the state against foreign and domes- Defence of the 
tic enemies. In doing this, it is to be prompt s^*^®- 
and vigorous ; and it may make use of all the resources 
of the state. There can be no limitations upon its 
authority in this direction. The existence of the state 
is so important that all ordinary considerations of econ- 
omy become insignificant. The government may draw 
upon the wealth of the people to exhaustion ; and it 
may demand their personal services and their lives, 
until resistance becomes useless. It may suspend all its 
ordinary operations in an extremity. But all this sacri- 
fice of money and of human life and happiness is for 
defence, not for aggression. The government has no 
right to involve the state in war simply to increase its 
territory, or to extend its power. 

For, intimately connected with its duty to international 
protect the state, is its obligation to other Relations. 
states. It is bound to respect their right to exist, and 
to refrain from acts of injustice and oppression. It 
must recognize their sovereignty, and treat them with 
proper courtesy. It must respect the person and prop- 
erty of every member of every other state, and it must 
do all in its power to promote mutual good feeling 
among all the nations. 

These are called international obligations, and when 
formally stated constitute what is called In- international 
ternational Law. Thus, when Great Britain ^^^• 
allowed the piratical " Alabama " to sail from her ports 
to destroy the commerce of the United States, she was 
said to violate the law of nations. When Russia, 



44 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Prussia, and Austria divided Poland among themselves, 
they committed the highest crime possible against a 
sovereign state. When a United States war-vessel 
stopped an English steamer, and took from it Mason 
and Slidell, the act was contrary to international law. 

The law of nations differs from all other law in that it 
International is not the expression of a controlling will. 
Law Peculiar. There is no human authority above that 
of a sovereign state ; so that this law is only a collec- 
tion of rules which the Christian nations acknowledge 
as binding upon them in their relations with each other. 
This law is also pecuhar in that there is no umpire to 
settle disputes, and no penalty. If a state violate the 
law of nations, the injured party can only obtain re- 
dress by war, unless the guilty state chooses to make 
amends in some other way. Thus, in the case men- 
tioned above, the United States restored the prisoners 
taken, and apologized for the act. The " Alabama " case 
was submitted to a board of arbitration, which decided 
that Great Britain should pay a certain sum for property 
destroyed through her negligence. 

SUMMARY. 

1. By securing justice, the government promotes the 
general welfare. 

2. It does this also by executing measures of public 
utility, and by fostering the industries of the state. 

3. It is the duty of the government to provide for 
the education of the people. 

4. The government may compel children to attend 
school. 

5. The government should care for the general cul- 
ture of the people. 

6. It is a duty of the government to defend the state : 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 45 

to do this it may draw without limit upon the wealth 
and the services of the people. 

7. The government is bound to respect the rights of 
other states. 

8. Certain rules are recognized by Christian nations 
as guiding them in their intercourse with each other. 
These constitute International Law. 

9. Until recently there has been no mode of effecting 
a final settlement of international disputes but by force. 
Within a few years, some nations have submitted their 
quarrels to arbitration. 




CHAPTER VII. 

NATURE AND DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP. 

The state has been defined as a community of people. 
Citizens and A citizen of a state is a member of this 
Aliens. community, who is entitled to be protected 

by the government in the enjoyment of his civil rights, 
both at home and abroad. A person residing within a 
country, but not a citizen, is an alien. 

There are two classes of citizens, — native and natu- 
Ciasses of Citi- ralized. Native citizens are those members 
^eas. of the state who were born within its ter- 

ritory, or whose parents were natives. Naturalized 
citizens were once aliens, but have become citizens by 
complying with certain legal requirements. The second 
class have all the civil rights and duties of the first, 
but certain political privileges are sometimes with- 
held. Thus none but native citizens can hold the 
office of President or Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Citizenship, like all other relations, has certain 
duties peculiar to itself. The individual 
who enjoys the protection of the govern- 
ment is bound to support it. He may do this in part by 
respecting its authority, and by obeying its laws. A 

46 



NATURE AND DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP. 47 

government is strong in proportion as it can command 
the obedience of its subjects. Evasion of 
law is as bad as wilful violation of it ; 
inasmuch as it shows a want of respect, which needs 
only to have the fear of punishment removed to 
become disobedience. Every good citizen holds the 
spirit of a law as sacred as the letter. One who 
breaks any law of the state violates the right of those 
for whose protection the law was made. 

This duty of obedience is limited in one direction. 
When to obey a law of the state would be conscientious 
to disobey a clearly revealed law of God, Disobedience, 
the obligation to God takes precedence, and the citizen 
is bound to disobey. This is a question of conscience, 
and as such must be decided by each individual for 
himself. But the government may not recognize this 
as a valid excuse for disobedience. If it did so, the 
most unscrupulous would become the most conscien- 
tious. It must treat disobedience as such, and punish 
it accordingly. Nor has a citizen any ground of com- 
plaint. If his respect for the divine government is so 
great, he must also respect the government of the state 
enough to suffer the consequences of his scruples 
willingly. 

Besides the moral support which comes from respect 
and obedience, the citizen is bound to con- pecuniary Sup- 
tribute of his means to meet the necessary Po~** 
expenses of the government. These expenses are in- 
curred for the benefit of all. Every citizen enjoys 
personal security and personal liberty ; and, if he has 
property, that is also protected. For all this, justice 
requires that he shall pay in proportion to his means. 
This obligation is as binding as any between man and 



48 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

man ; and wilful evasion of it is as dishonorable as any 

other form of fraud. 

The citizen is also bound to support the government 

by force of arms. The benefits of p:overn- 
Defence. . 

ment are so many that no sacrifice can be 

considered too great that its safety makes necessary. 

The highest virtue of a citizen utters itself in the 

saying, " It is sweet to die for one's country." 

A citizen who meets these obligations cheerfully is a 

patriot. To obey the laws because they 

Patriotism. . . , , -^-u 1 

are laws, to pay one s taxes without 

grumbling, to give up friends or one's own life, if 

necessary — these are the evidences of patriotism. 

Another weighty obligation rests upon the subjects 

of a limited ejovernment. They are bound 
Duty to Vote. , ^ ^ -^ 

to vote. 

Voting, or suffrage as it is called, is often spoken of as 
The Right of ^ right. There is an historical reason for 
Suffrage. this. All the limited governments of the 

present day have grown out of more absolute ones. In 
every state there has been a time when the government 
was supposed to derive its authority directly from God, 
not from the people. They had no voice in establish- 
ing the government, nor in administering it. From 
various causes, in different countries, the existing gov- 
ernment, usually a sovereign, either alone or with an 
aristocracy, gave to a portion of the people suffrage as 
a privilege. These extended it to others, until the 
voting class in each state has come to be what it is. 
When people have once enjoyed the privilege of vot- 
ing, they have claimed it as a right, basing the claim 
upon the fact that it has been given by the government. 
For the last century the tendency has been toward 
universal suffrage. 



NATURE AND DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP. 49 

Whatever opinion may be held as to the limits 
placed upon suffrage, there can be no doubt Basis of Obliga- 
that whoever may vote ought to vote. tiontoVote. 
The obhgation upon the state to have the best govern- 
ment rests upon every individual to the extent of his 
possible influence. If he have a voice in the selection 
of officers, and so in making the laws, he is as much 
bound to use his opportunity for good as to perform the 
commonest act of honesty or charity. The difference 
is so wide between a good government and a bad one, 
the interests at stake are so precious, that indifference 
in politics becomes a crime. Voting is a tj'ust held by 
the few for the interest of the many : to use it, and to 
use it conscientiously, this is to promote order and hap- 
piness ; and not to use it, or to abuse it, is to take the 
part of those who prey upon society for their personal 
profit. 

The duty to have a good government rests upon the 
subjects of absolute authority, as well as upon those 
who have a vote in controlling the state. Duty of Revo- 
When the government fails to meet its lotion, 
obhgations to the people, when its acts are injurious 
rather than beneficial, the people are bound to seek a 
change either in the form of the government, or in the 
mode of its administration. This is the duty of revo- 
lution. This change may be effected in either of two 
ways : first, by what is termed moral resistance, that is, 
by complaint, petition, and refusing to aid in enfor- 
cing the law ; or, second, when there is just ground of 
complaint, when the other method has failed, and there 
is a fair prospect of success, by armed opposition. 

The third condition deserves notice as illustrating a 
general prLneiple. Though the acts of a government 



50 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

may be ever so oppressive, it is better to suffer them for 
a time, than to start a rebellion which cannot succeed. 
The evils resulting to the state from a civil war are so 
enormous, that to begin such a contest for trivial rea- 
sons, or against overwhelming odds, is the highest 
crime that can be committed against the welfare of 
society. 

The duty of the government here is as plain as that 
, of the individual. While one may be 

Crovernment . -, ^ i 

tound to Pun- bound to rebel, the other is as much bound 
ish Rebellion, ^o resist. The man who undertakes to over- 
throw the established government takes his life in his 
Lands. The government must regard rebels as traitors, 
and if they are unsuccessful must punish them as such. 
If the cause is a worthy one, rebels may be patriots ; and, 
if successful, their names may go down to posterity with 
honor. The British government looked upon Washing- 
ton as a rebel and a criminal: America considers him 
a model of political \'irtue. 

The various duties of the citizen, that have been 
Nature of Po- enumerated, are moral obligations with 
liticai Duties. .^]i the weight of such. They are things 
to do or not to do, to do well or ill, demanding 
choice, and involving responsibility. They go along 
with such obligations as honesty, chastity, and temper- 
ance, and come under the great law of human relation 
which requires every man to love his neighbor as him- 
self. 

SUMJMAEY. 

1. A citizen is a member of the state. 

2. A citizen may be native or naturalized. 

3. Persons on being naturalized usually have all the 
civil rights and duties of native-born citizens. 



NATURE AND DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP. 51 

4. Every citizen is bound to support the government 
by obeying its laws. 

5. He is bound to disobey a law which violates his 
conscience ; but he must suffer the penalties of dis- 
obedience. 

6. Every citizen is bound to support the government 
with his money, and by his service if necessary to its 
defence. 

7. Voting is a duty. 

8. Suffrage is called a right because it has been con- 
ferred as such gradually by absolute governments. 

9. Revolution may be a duty. Armed revolution is 
justifiable only as a last resort, and when success is 
probable. 

11. The government should punish rebels. 

12. Political duties are moral obligations. 



PART II. 

CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE STATES 
BEFORE THEIR INDEPENDENCE. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL, EELIGIOUS, AND POLITICAL 
LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 

As most of the settlers of the thirteen colonies were 
fi'om England, it is necessary to know what notions of 
government they brought with them ; and to do this we 
must trace the development of civil institutions in the 
mother country. We shall find that nearly all that is 
best in our government had been secured by centuries 
of conflict in Great Britain. 

Under the Anglo-Saxon kings,^ people were divided 
into two great classes, — freemen and slaves. Two 
classes of freemen existed, — those who owned land, 
and those who did not. 

The country was divided into Counties, in each of 
which a Court was held periodically, pre- 
sided over by an alderman. This court was 
an assembly of freemen ; but it is doubtful if any but 
land-owners voted. Before this body, wills and deeds 
were attested ; and it was also a court of justice. At 
first the whole body of people decided matters in dis- 
pute. Afterward, in each case, a body of men, usually 
twelve, acquainted with the facts, gave a decision upon 
oath. This was the germ of the modern jury S3^stem. 

1 See close of cliapter for list of sovereigns of Euglaiul. 

55 



56 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The system was gradually developed by employing men 
not acquainted with the facts, and bringing witnesses 
before them to testify ; and a further change was made 
when the decision of questions of law was given to a 
judge, leaving to the jury only questions of fact. The 
county officers were elected by the freemen at these 
courts. 

The central government was vested in a king, who 
came to the throne by hereditary title, but 
also, usually, with the consent of the larger 
land-owners. Associated with him in the management 
of affairs was a body called the Assembly of the Wise 
Men. Originally all the land-owners were entitled to a 
seat in this assembly ; but after a time only the more 
The Great powerful exercised the right. This body 

Council. }iad power to raise troops for national 

defence, to impose taxes, to direct ecclesiastical affairs, 
and to care for the general interests of the state. The 
body met only when convoked by the king. 

Thus it appears, that the government was a limited 
monarchy, that the great body of the people had no 
voice in its administration, that the local institutions 
afforded considerable liberty to the lower classes of 
freemen, and were designed to secure justice to 
all. 

The Norman Conquest (1066) wrought some most 
The Feudal important changes. The Feudal System 
System. ^as introduced. By this the king was con- 

sidered the proprietor of all lands, and distributed them 
among the people as he chose. To some he gave lands 
for which they were to pay a fixed rent ; but most held 
estates on condition of rendering a stipulated amount 
of military service. The holders were called the king's 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 57 

vassals, and held the property for a specified time, or 
for life ; and later the title became hereditary. As 
king's vassals they were entitled to a seat in his coun- 
cil. These men granted portions of their estates to 
subordinates on similar terms. 

Many abuses crept into the system. Besides the mili- 
tary service, the king's vassals were re- 

.,,«., , ,, Feudal Abuses, 

quired to lurnish money to ransom the 

king's person, and on the marriage of his eldest daughter. 

If a vassal died, the king received money of the heir on 

coming to the property : if the heir was not of age, the 

king became his guardian, and received the revenues of 

the estate. Often, in place of the military service, the 

kings demanded money. 

Besides the great council composed of the king's vas- 

5, there came to be a smaller one con- 



sisting of those officers of state who were 
immediately attached to the king's person. This latter 
body came to exercise all the administrative part of the 
government under the authority of the king. The king 
interfered in the local administration by withdrawing 
an important part of the business from the county 
courts, and giving it to justices of his own appoint- 
ment. Some of the county officers also came to be 
appointed by the king. 

In all these ways the Norman sovereigns oppressed 
their subjects; and person and property Norman Oppres- 
were not secure from their arbitrary rule, ^^o^* 
During all this time the barons struggled against 'the un- 
just exactions ; and each king, on coming to the throne, 
granted a charter in which he solemnly promised to 
respect the ancient laws, and to refrain from oppressive 
acts. But these promises were never kept. 



58 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

During the reign of John, who was both weak and 
mean, the barons, under arms, compelled 
him to sign the famous instrument called 
Magna Charta (1215). The larger part of this con- 
sisted of concessions to the barons, remedying feudal 
abuses. It also established a fixed mode of administer- 
ing justice, setting up in the counties a court to be 
held by two judges appointed by the king, and four 
knights chosen by the county. The most important 
declaration was as follows : — 

" No freeman shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or 
dispossessed of his tenement, or outlawed, or exiled, or 
in any wise proceeded against ; we will not place or 
cause to be placed hands upon him, unless by the legal 
judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. Jus- 
tice shall not be sold, refused, or delayed to any one." 
It will be seen that here was a promise of complete 
civil liberty to every freeman. But John and the 
kings who succeeded him evaded these charters in every 
possible way, and, though repeatedly taking oath to 
respect them, were always violating them. 

It had always been a fundamental principle, that the 
• • of the king could lay no taxes without the con- 
House of sent of his council, though every king had 
Commons. done SO. In the early part of the thirteenth 
century, the lesser vassals of the king, though not attend- 
ing the council, had considerable prominence in the 
counties ; and associated with them was an important 
class of land-owners who held their property on other 
than feudal terms. These were the so-called English 
yeomanry. The kings, hoping to secure a part}^ in the 
council in their interest, began the practice of summon- 
ing a certain number of men from the counties, to be 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 59 

chosen by those smaller land-owners as their representa- 
tives. These men were called knights of the shire. 
About the same time, many towns had acquired wealth 
and importance ; and to secure their influence, and also 
that they might be taxed with their own consent, they 
were invited to send deputies to the assembly (1250- 
1300).. These were called borough members. There 
was no system in the matter. Those boroughs which 
were called upon were represented, and only those. 
The right came to be based upon custom, so that in 
process of time many large towns grew up without 
representation, while old but decayed boroughs retained 
the ancient privilege. This was the cause of the evil 
of " rotten boroughs," which created so much agitation 
in the early part of the present century. 

Thus it appears that during the thirteenth century 
the limiting body came to consist of three 
parts, — first, the barons and bishops, sit- 
ting by their own right ; second, the knights of the shire, 
elected by the land-owners of the counties ; third, the 
borough members, elected by those who managed the 
local affairs in the towns. The last two classes, havino- 
interests in common, after a time united, and formed the 
House of Commons ; the other constituted the House 
of Lords : the whole made up the Parliament. 

At first the Commons had little share in the govern- 
ment except to assent to taxation. If they power of the 
had grievances to be redressed, or new Commons, 
measures to propose, they framed petitions, and pre- 
sented them to the king through their presiding officer, 
for this reason called Speaker. These requests were so 
frequently disregarded, that they gradually adopted the 
surer method of framing their wishes into statutes, and 



60 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

then presenting them to the king for his approval. 
They claimed the right of free discussion, and then the 
right to examine into pubhc expenditures, and to hold 
the king's ministers responsible for maladministration. 
All these were signs that the idea of the government's 
responsibility to the state was gaining ground. 

On the accession of the Tudors (1485), they found 
Arbitrary Rule ^^^^ nobility greatly weakened by the long 
of the Tudors. civil wars that had preceded, and the 
commons had not yet acquired the courage to defend 
their rights stoutly. The result was, that under 
Henry VII. and Henry VIII. the people suffered the 
most gross and oppressive exactions. When Parlia- 
ment objected to voting money, the king's ministers 
raised it by illegal modes of taxation. One of these 
ministers told the merchants whom he was trying to 
fleece, that those who lived expensively thus showed 
their wealth, and those who lived prudently must have 
grown rich by economy, and so both classes could afford 
to be taxed. 

Personal security was no more inviolate than prop- 
erty. Hallam says, " A single suspicion in the dark 
bosom of Henry VIL, a single cloud of wayward 
humor in his son, would have been sufficient to send the 
proudest peer of England to the dungeon and the scaf- 
fold." During the reign of these two men, the au- 
tliority of the king was more nearly absolute than at 
any other period of English history. The complete 
establishment of civil and political liberty came after a 
century and a half of agitation respecting religion. 

The Roman Catholic was the only religion in England 
Power of the ^^^ ^^ ^^^ Continent. Immense estates 
Church. were connected with the churches and 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBEETY IN ENGLAND. 61 

monasteries, and the wealthy bishops and abbots had 
seats in Parliament, and great influence in the state. 
The pope as supreme head of the church claimed also 
the right to interfere in some of the civil affairs of the 
nations ; but the English people had always been jealous 
of this interference, though not always able to resist suc- 
cessfully. 

Henry YIII., having quarrelled with the pope about 
a divorce, renounced his allegiance, and i he Separation 
was proclaimed by Parliament supreme ^romHome. 
head of the church in England (1534). By this act 
the English Catholic Church became a separate body ; 
and after this time the king and Parliament had 
complete control of the appointment of church officers, 
and the regulation of church affairs. Henry abolished 
the monasteries, and confiscated their property to the 
crown. 

During this reign the Protestant Peformation began in 
Germany under Luther (1517) ; and the The Protestant 
doctrines of the new religion spread rapidly Reformation, 
over Europe and in England. Henry YIII., though 
he quarrelled with the pope, was still a Catholic. He 
persecuted the Protestants for heresy, while he also 
punished the Catholics who refused to acknowledge his 
supremacy. 

Edward YL, though a boy when he became king 
(1547), had decided opinions in favor of The Reformation 
the Protestants; and the chief of his ad- i^ England, 
visers sympathized with him. They at once began the 
work of change. The church services, which had 
always been in Latin, were changed by the prepara- 
tion of a prayer-book in English which omitted the 
leading Catholic doctrines. Images were removed from 



62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the churches, and many of the ceremonies of the old 
religion abolished. The clergy were permitted to 
marry. Yet in this change the government of Ed- 
ward had regard to the fact that the majority of the 
people were still Catholic. For this reason it adopted 
a moderate policy, intending to introduce more com- 
plete changes as the temper of the ]3eople would receive 
them. 

Many of the Protestants were dissatisfied with this 
course, and demanded the removal of all 
traces of the Catholic worship. These 
people, who wanted the old ceremonies abolished, were 
called by their enemies Puritans. The refusal of Hooper 
to be consecrated as bishop in the robes usually worn on 
such occasions may be considered the beginning of Puri- 
tan history (1550). 

Edward died before the reform was completed, and 
Changes Mary came to the throne (1553). She was 

under Mary. ^ Catholic, and immediately filled all the 
church oflaces with men of that faith, removed from their 
places the clergy who had married, and fully re-estab- 
lished the old forms. The Protestant clergy suflFered 
much from the zeal of the queen, and large numbers fled 
to the continent. Here they became still more strongly 
impressed in favor of a simple worship. 

On the death of Mary (1558), these exiles returned 
Policy of Eliza- to England, hoping that Elizabeth would 
^^^^' carry on the change begun by Edward; 

but she found herself in a peculiar and embarrassing 
position. She was considered the head and exponent 
of Protestantism ; and as such the Catholic powers of 
Europe were leagued against her. Many of her own 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 63 

subjects were ready to listen to foreign conspirators, and 
rise in rebellion. For this reason, though she restored 
the Protestants to place, she did not push the new reli- 
gion beyond its position at the death of Edward. .^-— 

Two laws of a preceding reign were re-enacted, and 
became under her administration instru- ^^t of suprem- / 
ments of the severest oppression. One, *<^y- / 

called the Act of Supremacy, required all ecclesiastical 
officers, and all officers of the government, to take an 
oath to support the queen as the supreme head of the 
Church. This, good Catholics could not do , and they 
lost all controlling influence from that date. Besides 
this, at different times, other laws were passed under 
which the Catholics suffered much persecution. 

The second statute, called the Act of Uniformity, 
forbade worship to be conducted in any ActofUni- 

place, public or private, in any way but formity. 
that prescribed by law, and required all persons to at- 
tend public service at the stated times. Under the 
direction of some of the bishops, this law was brought 
to bear upon the Puritans, who had quietly been wor- 
shipping in their own way. Hundreds of the parish 
clergy were expelled from their livings. From all over 
England complaints came to the queen, that the churches 
were closed, and the people deprived of the customary 
religious observances. The petitions were not heeded, 
and the persecution went on. 

About this time, in consequence of persecution in 
different parts of the country, a new idea -sUse of the 
about religion was gaining favor. Some Separatists, 
people had come to believe that the government 
should have no control over the religious opinions and 
practices of its subjects. They held that any body of 



64 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Christians might organize themselves into a church, 
choose their own officers, and be independent of all ex- 
ternal authority. Thus, breaking away entirely from the 
Established Church, they began to organize themselves 
by the choice of pastors, teachers, and other officers, and 
to worship in secret. These radical reformers were 
called in derision, Brownists, from an early advocate of 
the doctrine, who afterward went back to the state 
church. Afterward they were called Separatists and 
Independents. They were as obnoxious to the Puri- 
tans as to the government, and were punished by fines, 
imprisonment, torture, mutilation, and death ; but they 
steadily increased in numbers. 

During the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, there 
Parties in Came to be five religious classes : the 

Eeiigion. Church party, holding extreme -^aews of 

the authority of the government, and sustaining all its 
harsh procedure ; the conforming Puritans, who desired 
reform, yet from motives of policy or fear, or from 
associations, still adhered to the prescribed modes of 
worship ; the non-conforming Puritans, who believed 
in the authority of the civil magistrate in matters of 
religion, but could not conscientiously adopt the ritual 
estabhshed for them, and were hoping for a change in 
the policy of the state ; the Separatists, who had re- 
nounced the state religion, and were worshi]3ping in 
little companies, in houses and barns, and wherever 
they could be concealed from the officers of law ; and, 
lastly, the Cathohcs. An understanding of New Eng- 
land history requires that this distinction between the 
Separatists and i^on-conforming Puritans be carefully 
noticed. The latter believed that the form of religious 
service should be prescribed by law, and that the civil 



ESTABLISHMENT OP LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 65 

magistrates might and should punish persons for heret- 
ical belief and practices : the other believed in the 
entire separation of church and state. 

On the accession of James (1603), the first of the Stu- 
arts on the throne of England, the Puri- ^he Stuarts and 
tans hoped for favor ; but they were disap- the Popular 
pointed. Seeing nothing to hope for at ^^^^' 
home, they began that emigration by which the Puritan 
colonies in New England were peopled. There began 
now a struggle between the king, determined to exercise 
arbitrary power, and the Commons, who had been grow- 
ing stronger, and among whom Puritans were numerous. 
The Commons claimed, and, after a time, succeeded in 
securing, the right to judge of the elections of their own 
members. They contended for free speech in Parliament, 
for the right to discuss all matters pertaining to the 
general interest of the kingdom, for exemption from 
arbitrary imprisonment, and that there should be no 
taxation without their assent. All these claims were 
resisted by James, and after him by Charles. They 
summoned parliaments to grant them money for carr}^- 
ing on the government ; the . Commons demanded 
redress of grievances as a condition of voting the sup- 
plies. This, in general, was the attitude of the two 
contending parties. 

Early in the reign of Charles (1628), the Commons 
framed an instrument called the Petition Petition of 

of Right, to which the king unwillingly Right, 

assented. In this the Commons complained of illegal 
and unjust procedure, and claimed four rights : first, 
that no person should be compelled to pay any tax 
levied without consent of Parliament ; second, that no 
freeman should be imprisoned except by regular legal 

6* 



66 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

process; third, that soldiers should not be quartered 
upon the people ; fourth, that the people should not be 
subjected to martial law. These were not new claims. 
The second and fourth were as old as Magna Charta ; 
the first was older still. But the people now were 
enlightened enough and strong enough to insist upon 
them. 

At one time, Charles governed for eleven years 
The Long Par- without a parliament, raising money by 
liament. ^he most illegal and oppressive methods. 

When, in 1640, he summoned another, a majority were 
Puritans. They had always been foremost in opposing 
the absolute policy of the kings, and many of them 
now had come to be Independents. This Long Parlia- 
ment, as it is called, because existing twelve years, 
carried at the outset two measures of the utmost im- 
portance in restraining the arbitrary rule of the king. 
One law ordained that Parliament should not be dis- 
solved without its own consent ; the other abolished the 
Court of Star Chamber, a body of judges wholly under 
the king's control, by which all the constitutional 
modes of administering justice had been set aside, and 
which had been the instrument of all the kings in dis- 
posing of obnoxious personal enemies. 

Charles was compelled to assent to these measures ; 
but when the parliament demanded the 
control of the army he resisted, and both 
parties took up arms (1642). The king was supported 
by most of the nobility, by the Catholics, and by the 
Church party. The parliamentary side was taken by 
the Puritans and by the middle and lower classes of the 
people. During the war the Episcopal Church was over- 
thrown, and a Presbyterian form of worship and church 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 67 

government prevailed. The king finally fell into the 
hands of the parliament, by whom he was tried and exe- 
cuted for treason (1649). 

The Commons then abolished the House of Lords, 
and vested the supreme executive power TheCommon- 
in a council of state of forty members. wealth. 
In 1653 Cromwell dissolved the parliament by force. 
Another parliament gave to him the supreme power 
with the title Lord Protector. He summoned and dis- 
solved one parliament after another, ruling quite abso- 
lutely until his death in 1658. The triumph of the 
Commons, instead of establishing the government on a 
firm basis, and securing that civil and political liberty 
for which they had been struggling so long, only intro- 
duced a period of greater contention, of which the people 
became thoroughly tired. 

Cromwell was succeeded by his son Richard, who 

could not exercise his father's sway, and 

J 1 . ^ rry-i . -i J* nn ' The BestoratioiL. 

resigned his place, ihe control of affairs 

fell into the hands of a few military leaders ; and in 
1660 the people gladly received as king Charles H., 
who had been in exile during the existence of the Com- 
monwealth. This event is known in English history 
as the Restoration. The government was re-established 
on its old basis, the episcopal system again set up, and 
for a time the parliament was submissive to the king ; 
but his favor to the Catholics, and other measures, alien- 
ated the people from him. His brother Arbitrary Rule 
James, who succeeded him (1685), at- of James, 
tempted to re-establish the absolutism that had charac- 
terized the Tudors. He claimed the power to set aside 
acts of Parliament ; he purposed to repeal the Habeas 
Corpus act, passed in the preceding reign ; he wished to 



68 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

establish Catholicism as the state religion ; he inter- 
fered in the election of members of Parliament ; and 
he assumed the control of ecclesiastical affairs. 

These arbitrary measures alarmed and exasperated the 

people, and after reie^nine: four years James 
The Revolution. ^ ^ ' n n , ^ ? .1 

was compelled to ny irom the country. 

The crown was then offered to WilHam of Orange and 

his wife Mary, the daughter of James. This event is 

known as the Revolution (1689). ^ Its consequences 

were most important. 

On the accession of William and Mary, a parliament 
was summoned which passed the famous 
Bill of Rights, which has been called the 
third bulwark of English liberty. The other two are 
Magna Charta and the Petition of Right. This bill de- 
clared it illegal for the sovereign to suspend the laws, or 
dispense with their execution, or to levy money without 
grant of Parliament, or to keep a standing army with- 
out the consent of Parliament. The bill declared the 
right of the subjects to petition the king, to bear arms 
in their own defence, to be exempt from excessive bail 
and fines, and from cruel and unusual punishments. It 
also declared that parliaments should be held frequently, 
that the election of members should be free, and that 
the members should have freedom of speech in their 
debates. 

During this reign, considerable progress was made 
toward securing religious toleration and freedom of the 
press ; and a hmited term was fixed for the duration 
of Parliament. The mutual relations of king and Par- 
liament became definitely settled, and the constitution 
has undergone but slight changes since. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 69 
STJMMAEY. 

1. Under the Saxon kings, the government was 
limited in two directions : first, by the county courts, 
in which the freemen administered their own local 
affairs ; and, second, by the great council, whose consent 
was necessary for taxation. 

2. Under the Normans, the feudal system gave more 
power to the crown. The arbitrary exercise of this 
power was the origin of the first formal declaration of 
civil liberty in Magna Charta. 

3. The House of Commons originated in a desire of 
the crown to make itself independent of the nobility 
by creating a new party in its own interests. 

4. This body acquired the right to frame statutes, to 
originate money bills, to examine into the public expen- 
diture, to hold the king's ministers responsible. 

5. The separation of the Church of England from 
Rome was effected by Henry VIII. 

6. The change from the Catholic to the Protestant 
faith was effected during the reign of Edward VI. 

7. The Puritans were Protestants who were dissatis- 
fied with the moderate policy of reform adopted by 
Edward and afterward by EHzabeth, and urged the 
entire abolition of Catholic forms. 

8. Some of the Puritans were driven by persecution 
to adopt new principles of ecclesiastical polity, and 
advocated the right of Christians to organize their own 
churches and choose their own officers, without dicta- 
tion or control by any external authority. These people 
were called Separatists. 

9. Most of the Puritans believed in a union of church 
and state. 



70 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

10. The Puritans became the chief opponents of the 
arbitrary political measures of the Stuarts. 

11. During the reign of James I. and Charles I., there 
was a continual struggle between the Commons and the 
king, about taxation, and freedom of speech in Parlia- 
ment. Charles assented to the Petition of Right. The 
quarrel ended in the civil war, in which the king was 
defeated, and in consequence of which he lost his 
life. 

12. For a few years the monarchy was abolished, and 
the Commons ruled under the guidance of Cromwell. 
This was the period of the Commonwealth. 

13. A reaction followed in favor of royalty : the res- 
toration of the Stuarts took place, and liberty was 
again restricted. 

14. Arbitrary rule again excited discontent, and 
brought about the Revolution, in which James II. was 
compelled to leave the throne, and the crown was given 
to William and Mary. 

15. A bill of rights was passed, which became one 
of the chief safeguards of English liberty. 

IMPORTANT DATES. 

1066. Norman Conquest. 
1215. Magna Charta. 
1517. Lutheran Reformation. 
1649. Execution of Charles I. 
1660. The Restoration. 
1689. The Revolution. 

SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND. 

ITormans. House of Plantagenet 

William I. 1066-1087. Henry n. 1154-1189. 

William II. 1087-1100. Richard I. 1189-1199. 

Henry I. 1100-1135. John, 1199-1216. 

Stephen, 1135-1154. Henry in. 1210-1272. 



ESTABLISHMENT OP LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. 



71 



Edward I. 1272-1307. 
Edward IL 1307-1327. 
Edward in. 1327-1377. 
Eichard II. 1377-1399. 

Houses of Lancaster and York. 
Henry IV. 1399-1413. 
Henry V. 1413-1422. 
Henry VI. 1422-1461. 
Edward IV. 1461-1483. 
Edward V. 1483-1483. 
Bichai-din. 1483-1485. 



House of Stuart. 
James I. 160^-1625. 

Charles I. 1625-1649. 
(The Commonwealth). 
Charles II. 1660-1685. 
James II. 1685-1689. 

Houses of Stuart and Nassau. 
"William HI. 1689-1702. 
MarylL 1689-1694. 

Anne, 1702-1714. 







House of Brunswick. 


House 


of Tudor. 


George L 1714-1727. 


Henry VII. 


1485-1509. 


George II. 1727-1760. 


Henry VIII. 


1509-1547. 


George III. 1760-1820. 


Edward VI. 


1547-1553. 


George IV. 1820-1830. 


Mary, 


1553-1558. 


William IV. 1830-1837. 


Elizabeth, 


1558-1603. 






CHAPTER IX. 

THE COLONY OF NEW PLYINIOUTH. 

In 1497, one year before Columbus discoyered the 
Discovery by continent of South America, John Cabot 
Cabot. Q^jj^ ]^ig gQj^ Sebastian, sailing under the 

English flag, discovered the mainland of North America 
at Labrador, and took possession of it in the name of 
Henry VII. In accordance with feudal principles, the 
territory thus acquired became subject not to England, 
but to the king, who in future grants styled himself the 
sovereign lord thereof. 

In 1606, James I. issued a patent, as it was called, 
Grants by granting to certain men the territory in 

James I. North America between the thirty-fourth 

and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, extending inland 
fifty miles. These men were to form two companies : 
the London Company might occupy between the 
thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees; the Plymouth 
Company might occupy between the thirty-eighth and 
forty-fifth degrees ; but neither could settle within a 
hundred miles of the other. These companies were 
formed for the purpose of trade and settlement. They 
could send out colonies, and grant land to them, could 
defend them against all aggressors, and had the abso- 
lute monopoly of all trade and commerce that grew 

72 



THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH. 73 

out of their enterprise. The London Company planted 
Virginia : the other body made only unsuccessful at- 
tempts within the limits assigned them. 

In 1620 the king incorporated the members of the 
Plymouth division of the old company The Council for 
into a new and distinct body called New England, 
usually " The Council for New England." To this 
corporation was given in absolute title the territory 
between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of lati- 
tude, extending across the continent fi'om sea to sea. 
The council received not only the same powers that the 
old company had, but the right to make all provision 
for governing the colonists whom they might send out. 
From this council were received all the titles to lands 
in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. 

In 1608 a company of Separatists who had been wor- 
shipping according to their ideas in the The Pilgrim 
village of Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, Church. 
England, were driven by persecution to fly to Holland, 
where religious toleration existed. They went to Am- 
sterdam, and thence to Leyden, where they remained 
until 1620. Not satisfied with their condition here, 
they decided to emigrate to America. 

Two things were necessary : to secure a title to land, 
and to raise money for the expenses of the Means for Emi- 
outfit. The first they obtained from the gration. 
London Company, intending to settle within its grant. 
The king, in general terms, promised that they should 
be unmolested by him. They obtained funds by a 
partnership with some London merchants, but on terms 
which hindered the prosperity of the colony. Ten 
pounds was the price of a share in the common stock. 
Each settler's labor was valued at one share. If he 



74 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

put in ten pounds in money besides, lie was entitled to 
two shares. The settlers and their families were to 
live out of the common stock for seven years ; at the 
end of which time all lands, buildings, &c., were to be 
divided among the shareholders. The community of 
property and labor was injurious to the best interests 
of the settlers. 

Instead of settling within the territory of the Lon- 
don Company, they found themselves at 
Cape Cod, and on the 21st of December, 
1620, began the settlement of New Plymouth. Eight 
years after, they obtamed from the Council for New 
England a grant of land with obscurely defined Hmits, 
and power to exercise such civil authority as they 
might find necessary. 

The story of their voyage, and the hardships of their 
first winter, are matters of general history. The object 
of this chapter is to exhibit the character of their civil 
government. 

They had existed in England and Holland as a 
Character of church, and, until they reached the New 
the Colony. World, had been nothing more than a 
voluntary association, organized first for religious pur- 
poses, and then for emigration. Now they were about 
to become a civil society, and knew that government 
would be necessary. They were still Englishmen, 
subjects of King James, and inhabitants of English 
soil. They were therefore amenable to the laws of 
England. But there existed no provision for adminis- 
tering those laws. They were left wholly to them- 
selves. 

They met this emergency in the spirit of their reli- 
gious faith; and, by a compact adopted before their 



THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH. 75 

landing, forty-one of the members of the company 
formed themselves into a civil body politic, and agreed 
to choose such officers, and make such 
laws, as their circumstances might make 
necessary ; and they promised submission and obedience 
to this rule of the whole.^ Here was the founding of 
a state ; not a sovereign state, because it recognized the 
authority of King James, but a dependent state for 
local government. 

The original signers of the compact were styled 
freemen of the colony ; and they consti- 
tuted the voting population, with such per- 
sons as they by vote of the majority admitted from time 
to time. For many years no qualifications were speci- 
fied as necessary in order to become a freeman. In 1658 
it was enacted that no Quaker should become a member 
of their association ; and in 1671 freemen were required 
to be twenty-one years of age, of sober and peaceable 
conversation, orthodox in the fundamentals of religion, 

1 The compact was as follows: "In the name of God, amen. We, 
whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and 
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., having undertaken, for the 
glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our 
king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern 
parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually', in the 
presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves 
together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preserva- 
tion, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to 
enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, 
constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most 
meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we 
promise all due sul)mission and obedience. In witness whereof we have 
hereunder subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, 
in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, Kiug James of England, 
France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the lifty-fourth, 
Anno Domini 1620." 



w 



76 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

and possessing at least twenty pounds ratable estate 
within the colony. These restrictions were not 
adopted until the generation of original settlers had 
passed away ; tliey were alwa^^s true to their Separatist 
ideas of religious freedom. 

The freemen annually elected a governor, and five 
Form of Gov- (afterward seven) assistants. This was 
ernment. the executive department. A meeting of 

the governor and assistants was called a Court of 
Assistants. A meeting of all the freemen was called a 
General Court. Laws were made by the general 
courts ; and both bodies exercised judicial functions as 
circumstances made necessary. The first legislative 
act on record is the establishment of trial by jury. 

The early legislation was simple, and but little of it 
Early Legis- recorded. It furnishes an admirable illus- 
lation. tration of the gradual process by which the 

statute law of a state is developed under the pressure 
of circumstances. The infant colony had suffered from 
scarcity of food ; and a law was made prohibiting the 
exportation of corn, pease, and beans. The thatched 
roofs had taken fire ; and the people were forbidden to 
cover their buildings with straw. Thus, as occasion 
required, new statutes were made ; but the principles 
which guided their administration were those of the 
English common law. In 1636 a revision of the law 
was made ; and at this time the functions of the several 
officers were more clearly defined. 

J^/Tn this code is the first formal intimation of the sepa- 
ration into towns. Upon the expiration 
of the seven years for which the partner- 
ship was formed with the London merchants, the lands 
were divided among the freemen, who began to extend 



THE COLONY OP NEW PLYMOUTH. 7T 

their settlements to a considerable distance from Plym- 
outh. In 1636 Scituate and Duxbury seem to have 
acquired considerable importance, as two men from 
each were appointed, with four from Plymouth, to revise 
the laws. By a new statute of this year, the inhabitants 
of Plymouth were permitted to meet together to make 
" orders for the herding of their cattle, and such other 
things as shall be needful for their more neighborly 
living together ; " and it was not long before similar 
privileges were granted to other communities. 

By this time it had come to be inconvenient and un- 
safe for the freemen to leave their homes, 
and go to Plymouth )to attend the frequent 
meetings of the General Court. In 1638 the represen- 
tative system was established. There had come to be 
eight towns ; and in each the inhabitants were to choose 
two freemen (Plymouth four) as deputies, who should 
act with the governor and assistants as a legislative 
body. The whole body of freemen still elected the 
officers annually, though the voters of any town might 
express their choice by proxy through their deputies. 

In 1671 the frame of government became still more 
definitely established by a revision of the Revised Laws 
laws, and the publication of them under the o^ 1671. 
title, " General Laws and Liberties of New Plymouth 
Colony." This body of laws is prefaced by a chapter 
entitled " The General Fundamentals." The first sec- 
tions of this are important as showing what the colonists 
regarded as their rights. After stating that they had 
come hither as " freeborn subjects of the state of Eng- 
land," with all the privileges of such, they ordain, " that 
no act, imposition, law, or ordinance be made or im- 
posed upon us, at present or to come, but such as shall 

7* . 



78 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

be made or imposed by consent of the body of freemen 
or associates, or their representatives legally assembled, 
which is according to the free liberties of the state of 
England." They further declare that no person shall 
be governor or assistant but such as have been freely 
chosen by vote of the freemen. Next they assert that 
grand declaration of Magna Charta, that there shall be 
a free, impartial, and speedy administration of justice, 
and that no person shall be deprived of his natural 
rights but by due process of law. Trial by jury is also 
guaranteed. The growth of the colony is nowhere 
more manifest than in these successive revisions of the 
laws. By this code, the judicial functions were with- 
drawn from the General Court, and vested in a court of 
assistants, which was to sit at Plymouth at least three 
times a year, and which was to decide all capital, crim- 
Separate Judi- i^^'^l' ^^^^^ ^^^^^ causes. Beside this sujDreme 
cial Bodies. body, in each town a body of selectmen 
was to be chosen ; who should have the power to try all 
civil causes involving debt, trespass, or damage, not 
exceeding forty shillings. From this local judgment 
there might be an appeal to the assistants' court. Thus 
was justice " brought home to every man's door " as 
the English constitution demanded. 

In 1685 three counties Avere formed by grouping 
Formation of neighboring towns. They were called 
Counties. Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol. In 

each county two annual courts were to be held by such 
of the assistants, called magistrates, as lived within their 
limits. Much of the business that had been transacted 
by the courts of assistants was now placed in the hands 
of the county courts. At the same time full powers 
were given to the selectmen to attend to the local affairs 



THE C0L0I5T OF NEW PLYMOUTH. 79 

of the town, as care of the poor, care of highways, and 
preservation of the public peace. In a future chapter 
we shall examine the functions of counties and towns 
in detail. This colony remained distinct until 1692, 
when it was united with Massachusetts. 

SUMMARY. 

1. All grants of lands in North America were mad^ 
hy the king. The title to the territory of New Plym- 
outh was obtained from the Council for New England. 

2. The settlers were a company of Separatists, who 
from their many wanderings have been called Pilgrims. 

3. Being a voluntary association, and without civil 
authority, they drew up a compact by which they agreed 
to establish a government in which the members of the 
association should have an equal voice. 

4. Members of the association were called freemen ; 
and they were admitted by vote of the majority, at first 
without specified qualifications : afterward suffrage 
was restricted on the basis of character, religious belief, 
and property. 

5. At first the colonists lived together at Plymouth ; 
afterward they formed different communities which 
were empowered to transact local affairs. In the man- 
agement of town business, persons of good character 
might vote, though not freemen of the colony. 

6. Executive functions were in the hands of a gover- 
nor and assistants, called magistrates, chosen annually 
by vote of a majority of the freemen. 

7. Legislative functions at first were vested in the 
whole body of freemen acting together as a general 
court. Afterward the general court consisted of the 
magistrates, and deputies sent by the towns to represent 
them. 



80 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

8. Judicial functions were exercised at first both by 
the magistrates alone and by the general court ; then 
by the magistrates holding courts for the whole colony, 
and by selectmen chosen in the towns to decide small 
causes ; afterward by county courts and the selectmen. 

9. All legislation recognized the supreme authority 
of the king ; and justice was administered according to 
the common law of England. 



CHAPTER X, 

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

In 1628 some persons in England obtained from th^ 
Council for New England a grant of land xhe Incorporated 
extending from three miles north of the Co^^P^'^y* 
River Merrimack to three miles south of the Charles, and 
from ocean to ocean. The next year, these persons with 
others, being Puritans or favorably disposed toward 
Puritanism, and many of them men of influence at court, 
received a charter from the king, incorporating them 
under the title, " The Governor and Company of the 
Massachusetts Bay in New England." Their object 
was to found a colony where non-conforming Puritans 
could live and worship unmolested. 

The charter empowered the company to choose its 
own officers, to admit new members, to 
hold land and other property in England 
and America, especially the territory in New England 
included in the previous grant, to transport settlers, to 
make all rules for managing the company affairs, and 
to provide for governing and protecting its colonists. 

The administration of company business was to be in 

the hands of a governor, deputy governor, 

T . 1 . 'ill n 1 Government, 

and eighteen assistants, chosen annually by 

the whole body of freemen or members. Four times a 

81 



82 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

year, there was to be " a great, general, and solemn 
assembly " of the company, called " the Great and 
General Court," at which new members should be ad- 
mitted, laws made for the government of the company 
and colony, and, once a year, officers chosen. 

The company sent out a few settlers to Salem ; but 
Transfer of while, its meetings were held in England, 
Charter. the colonists, though members of it, had 

no voice in its management. Men of character and 
influence Avere unwillmg thus to deprive themselves of 
the privilege of self-government, and would not emi- 
grate. To remove this objection, it was soon decided 
to transfer the charter to New England ; and a large 
bod}" of settlers immediately came over, locating them- 
selves in Boston and vicinity about 1630. The effect 
of the change was, to give the control of the colony to 
those settlers who were members of the company. The 
others had no more voice than before. But the com- 
pany had changed to a body politic. To be a freeman of 
the company was to be a citizen ; and thus, as new mem- 
bers were admitted from time to time, the colony came 
to be self-governing under the protection of the com- 
pany charter. Very early it was enacted that no person 
could become a freeman unless he were a member 
of some church within the colony; and 
this provision remained in force until 1664. 
The administration of government, both executive and 
judicial, was intrusted to the governor and 
assistants, sometimes called magistrates, 
who held monthly meetings called Assistants' Courts. 
The whole company in its general courts, held some- 
what irregularly, chose officers, made laws, and at- 
tended to some judicial business. The records show 



THE COLOKY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 83 

that at first the functions were not very clearly de- 
fined. 

In 1634 the towns sent deputies to act with the ma- 
gistrates ; and for ten years these two 
5' ^ . . . , , , , ,. Representatives, 

bodies, sitting together but voting sepa- 
rately, formed the General Court for legislative business. 
No law could be enacted without a majoritj^ vote of 
both bodies, each having what is called a " negative" 
upon the other. In 1644 the two bodies were sepa- 
rated ; and thus the General Court was constituted for 
forty years. At first the whole people met for election : 
afterward they met in their towns and voted, and sent 
their votes by their deputies to be counted by the 
General Court. 

Judicial business, as has been said, was conducted 
both by the Court of Assistants and by the General 
Court. Very early the magistrates performed the func- 
tions of justices of the peace, though without the title. 
Soon four quarterly courts were established at Ipswich, 
Salem, Cambridge, and Boston, to be held by the resi- 
dent magistrates, and persons appointed by the General 
Court to act with them ; and a quarterly court at Boston 
by all the magistrates. Next, in each town, a magis- 
trate, or some person appointed for the purpose, was 
empowered to try cases involving less than twenty 
shillings. In 1643 four counties were organized for the 
more complete administration of justice. 

Very early the people formed the habit of meeting 
in the towns to discuss local matters, and 
of choosing men to manage them ; and it 
was not long before the General Court recognized the 
town as corporations, and gave them power to transact 
business, and to choose officers. 



84 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay, unlike 
Puritan Legis- the Pilgrims, believed that the civil magis- 
lation. trate had authority in matters pertaining 

to religion and the church. They had founded their 
state for the express purpose of maintaining what they 
believed to be a pure worship ; and much of the legis- 
lation was directed to securing this end. This was 
the reason for restricting suffrage to church-members. 
In furtherance of the same object, they endeavored to 
compel attendance upon all the stated religious services, 
and taxed all the inhabitants to support the gospel. 
They passed stringent laws to prevent the promulga- 
tion of what they considered erroneous views, and 
punished severely any attempt to introduce a different 
faith from that which they had devoted themselves to 
establish. They endeavored to promote the public 
morals by legislation respecting the observance of the 
Sabbath ; and numerous statutes were made to prevent 
profanity, intemperance, and impiety. Most of the 
other New England colonies copied these laws ; and the 
reputation which these states have always had for 
morality shows how successful was this early legislation. 

After the Restoration, Charles II., who had no love 
Demand of for Puritans, was disturbed by the progress 

Charles II. of this colony, and began a series of meas- 

ures to check what seemed a dangerous spirit of inde- 
pendence. He required the officers to take an oath of 
allegiance to him ; that all judicial processes should be 
issued in his name ; that the Episcopal form of worship 
should be tolerated; and that the rights of freemen 
should not be restricted to church-members. The 
colonists considered some of these demands to be con- 
trary to the terms of their charter, and withheld com- 
pliance. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 85 

Next, the king sent commissioners to investigate the 
state of the colonies, giving them power BoyalCom- 
to hear any complaints that might be missioners. 
made against the colonial governments, and to receive 
appeals from the colonial courts. They were also 
directed to use their influence to induce the colo- 
nies to give up their charters, and receive a royal 
governor. Most of the colonies received the commis- 
sioners, and treated them with consideration ; but Mas- 
sachusetts refused to acknowledge their authority, and 
would not allow any appeal to them. 

The king continued his demands, to some of which 
Massachusetts yielded, imposing the oath Extension of 
of allegiance upon all the freemen, modi- Suffrage, 
fying some of the severest laws against the Quakers, 
and repealing the act limiting suffrage to church-mem- 
bers. But she required that voters who were not church- 
members should be orthodox in religion, not vicious 
in life, twenty-four years of age, householders, and 
paying a yearly tax upon property so great that prac- 
tically the franchise was scarcely extended beyond its 
old limits. 

At length the struggle ended by a legal declaration 
on the part of the king's officers, that Loss of the 

Massachusetts had forfeited her charter. Charter. 

This was in 1684, and measures were at once taken to 
send out a royal governor ; but the death of the king 
prevented. 

James, his successor, whose arbitrary conduct drove 

the people of England to revolution, Avas 

,.,. iTiT -r^ Suspension of 

not likely to treat the JNew England colo- Popular Gov- 

nies with much favor ; and for a time pop- emment. 
ular government there was suspended. In IGSG the 



eb CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

king appointed a president, deputy president, and six- 
teen councillors, to have complete executive and judicial 
control over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. 
There was no provision for an assembly. Near the 
close of the same year. Sir Edmund Andros arrived in 
Boston as governor of all New England. When the 
charter of Massachusetts was revoked, all powers which 
it conferred were withdrawn, and the colony was left 
wholly at the mercy of the king. Even the titles to 
land, based upon the charter, were void. The people 
were considered subjects not of England, but of the 
king of England, and therefore not entitled to the civil 
and political rights of Englishmen. 

Andros was sent to put these x)rinciples into practice. 
Government of ^ council appointed by the king was asso- 
Andros. elated with him ; and together they were 

empowered to make laws, which should be sent to Eng- 
land for the royal sanction, to levy taxes, to establish 
courts of justice, to regulate trade and currency, to 
reprieve and pardon. The servant was as tyrannical as 
his master. Excessive taxes were imposed ; and, though 
the people resisted, they were compelled to pay them. 
Owners of land were required to pay certain sums, 
called quit-rents, in order to secure a new and valid title 
to their property. The council became a cipher in the 
administration, and the will of Andros became the sole 
law ; and he and his favorites enriched themselves at 
the expense of the people. In the next year, his com- 
mission was extended to include New York and New 
Jersey ; and Boston was made the capital of the wliole 
province. Early in 1689, news arrived of the dethrone- 
ment of James, and the accession of William and Mary. 
At once there was an uprising of the people of Boston. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 87 

Andros and his friends were seized and imprisoned, and 
a provincial government was established Kevolutionof 
on the basis of the old charter. Similar 1689. 
proceedings took place in Plymouth, and in Rhode 
Island and Connecticut, which had never given up their 
charters. 

The agents of Massachusetts tried in vain to secure 
a renewal of the old charter. Its provis- xhe Province 
ions were too liberal to suit the king ; and Charter, 
in 1691 a new one was made, known as the Province 
Charter. The terms of this were such that the people 
no longer had that virtual independence of the crown 
which they had so long enjoyed, and which their 
neighbors of Connecticut and Rhode Island still pos- 
sessed. Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, and Nova 
Scotia were united under one government. A gov- 
ernor, deputy, and secretary were to be appointed 
by the king. A house of deputies, chosen as before by 
the towns, and a council of twenty-eight change in the 
members, appointed at first by the king, Government, 
afterward by the General Court, formed the legislature. 
The governor was commander of the militia, and 
appointed all military officers. The election of council- 
lors was subject to his sanction. With the consent of 
the council he appointed all judicial officers. The Gen- 
eral Court was to assemble on the last Wednesday in 
May, and the governor could convoke, adjourn, or dis- 
solve it. This dangerous power was afterward used 
against the people when they were preparing for the 
Revolution. All acts passed by the deputies and coun- 
cil must receive the approval of the governor to 
become law, and then be sent to England for the 
approval of the king's ministers. They could be 



88 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

annulled within three years. Much of the first legis- 
lation failed to receive the royal sanction. 

The General Court established a new judiciary system, 
consisting of a superior court, a court of common pleas 
in each county, justices of the peace, and a court of 
sessions in each county, consisting of the justices of the 
peace therein, who heard appeals from the justice's 
courts, and had charge of some miscellaneous county 
business. The charter changed the basis of suffrage, 
making the qualifications for a freeman the possession 
of a freehold ^ worth two pounds sterling a year, or 
personal property worth forty pounds. This charter 
went into operation in 1692 ; and from that time until 
the Revolution, Massachusetts and Plymouth, having 
lost the privilege of self-government, existed as a royal 
province subject to such governors as the king of Eng- 
land chose to send. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established 
under a charter from Charles I., in Boston and vicinity, 
about 1630. 

2. The control of the colony was vested in the com- 
pany ; but by a transfer of the charter the power came 
into the hands of a portion of the settlers. 

3. Executive and judicial power was cliiefly exer- 
cised by a governor, deputy governor, and assistants. 
Legislative functions were exercised by the whole body 
of members of the company, meeting in an assembly 
called the Great and General Court. At this meeting, 
also, officers were chosen. 

1 Freehold, — an estate held in absolute ownership, either for life or 
without limitation of time. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 89 

4. Different communities early assumed the powers 
of towns, which powers were afterward formally con- 
firmed by the court. 

5. In a few years, these towns chose deputies to act 
with the assistants in legislation ; and the General Court 
came to consist of two bodies, each having a negative 
upon the other. 

6. Judicial business was gradually withdrawn from 
the General Court, and intrusted to courts held in differ- 
ent parts of the colony by the magistrates, afterward to 
county courts ; and persons in the towns were empow- 
ered to " end small causes." 

7. Only church-members were allowed to become 
freemen ; and thus the political power was in the 
hands of a small minority of the colonists. The legis- 
lation was also largely in the interests of the Puritan 
churches. 

8. The kings were displeased with the practical inde- 
pendence of this colony, and tried various means to 
reduce it to subjection. Finally, in 1686, the charter 
was taken away, and with it all political privileges. 

9. Daring several years the colony was under the 
control of persons sent from England. These were 
intrusted with extensive authority, which they abused ; 
and the people had no means of redress. 

10. The Revolution in England was followed by a 
similar outbreak in Massachusetts. On the accession 
of William and Mary, a new charter, called the Province 
Charter, was given to the people. 

11. This gave the choice of governor to the king, of 
judges to the governor, of deputies to the people, and 
of a council to the General Court, which consisted of 
deputies and council. The people lost much of the 

8* 



90 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

power which they enjoyed under the company charter. 
At this time Plymouth was united with Massachusetts. 
12. New courts were established, suffrage was based 
upon a property qualification, and the king's assent was 
required to all laws. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE COLONIES OF CONNECTICUT AND EHODE ISLAND. 
CONNECTICUT. 

As in the other colonies, the title to the territory 
occupied by Connecticut was based upon Grant of Ter- 
a grant of land from the Council for New "*ory. 
England. This was made to its president the Earl of 
Warwick, who deeded it to a company of eleven per- 
sons, of whom Lord Say and Seal was the first named. 
The limits of the grant were, on the east, the Narragan- 
sett River ; on the north, a straight line from that river 
westerly ; on the south, the seashore for one hundred 
and twenty miles ; on the west, the South Sea. Within 
these limits, a number of detached companies settled 
themselves, but soon became united into two colonies. 

About 1635 settlers from the vicinity of Boston 
emigrated to the Connecticut River, and Th© Connec- 
located themselves at Windsor, Wethers- ticut Colony, 
field, and Hartford. They supposed themselves to be 
within the territory of Massachusetts ; and the General 
Court granted a commission to eight of the prominent 
men to govern the colony for one year. These men 
seem to have administered all the colony affairs for 
about three years. Sometimes, when special business 
made it advisable, the towns appointed committees to 
act with the court. 

91 



92 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In 1639 all the free planters met at Hartford, and 
The Consti- framed and adopted a constitution, which 
tution. ig considered the first instrument of the 

kind on record. It provided for two general courts 
annually : one for election, where the whole body of free- 
men were to choose by ballot a governor and six magis- 
trates, or assistants ; the other court, for legislation, was 
to consist of four deputies from each of the original 
towns, and from new towns according to the popula- 
tion, with the governor and magistrates. The governor 
had power to convoke the assemblies ; but they could 
only be adjourned or dissolved by vote of a majority of 
the members. Judicial powers were in the hands of 
the magistrates. In this instrument there was no 
recognition of any external authority whatever* The 
first court held after the adoption of the constitution 
prepared a bill of rights which in its main provision 
was based upon Magna Charta. 

In the same year, each town was empowered to dis- 
pose of its own lands, to choose its own 
officers, and order its own local affairs. In 
each, three, five, or seven men might be chosen annu- 
ally, who should have power to decide all controversies 
when the amount at issue did not exceed forty shillings. 
A town clerk was also to be chosen. 

In 1638 a company of persons from England, under 
New Haven ^^^ ^^^^ of John Davenport and Theophi- 
Colony. lus Eaton, formed a settlement at New 

Haven. It was a wealthy society, and so united and 
well disposed that there was no civil, military, or eccle- 
siastical authority for the first year. Then, at a meet- 
ing of the people, it was agreed, that church-members 
only should be freemen, and they only should choose 



CONNECTICUT AND EHODE ISLAND. 93 

magistrates. They therefore proceeded to choose 
twelve men, who of their own number selected seven 
to begin the church. These seven, called pillars, formed 
the church out of such individuals as they saw fit. The 
church so formed, with such members of other churches 
as desired, constituted the body of freemen ; and they 
elected a governor and four magistrates. Legislative 
or judicial business was transacted both by the magis- 
trates, and by the general court of all the freemen. 

Settlements were soon after made at Milford, Guil- 
ford, and Stamford ; and each town governed itself after 
the New Haven model. In 1643 these four towns 
united under a form essentially the same as in the 
Connecticut Colony. In all, the state was ruled by the 
church, as in Massachusetts Bay. 

The two colonies remained distinct until 1662, when --L 
a charter was obtained from the king in- tj^q Charter 
corporating nineteen persons of Connecti- Government, 
cut, with such associates as they might elect, under the 
title, " The Governor and Company of the English 
Colony of Connecticut in New England in America." 
The territory granted them embraced that formerly 
given to Warwick, and included the towns of the New 
Haven Colony. There was to be a governor, deputy ^ 
governor, and twelve assistants, and a house of depu- 
ties composed of two members from each town ; all 
elected annually by the freemen. As in most of the 
other charters, there was a reservation that no laws 
should be made repugnant to the laws of England. 

This patent was exceedingly obnoxious to the people 
of New Haven, who by it would lose their separate 
existence, and with it the fundamental principle upon 
which their government was based. The privilege of 



94 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

becoming freemen could no longer be restricted to 
church-members. For three years New Haven refused 
to accede to the demand of Connecticut, and main- 
tained its independence ; but in 1665 it was obliged to 
yield, and the charter government went into operation. 
So completely was the power in the hands of the peo- 
ple that even the Revolution made no change necessary, 
and this charter formed the only constitution of Con- 
necticut until 1818. 

For the administration of justice, courts were held in 
the counties by the resident assistants, from 
whose judgment appeals might be made to 
the Assistants' Court at Hartford, which also had juris- 
diction in all capital cases. The pardoning power was 
vested in the general assembly. 

The legislation was, in the main, copied from the 
Massachusetts^ code, and Avas not less 
minute in its provisions to promote Sab- 
bath-keeping, chastity, and temperance ; but the so- 
called Blue Laws, with their absurd details, were the 
invention of a man not in sympathy with the colony, 
who had returned to England. 

The right of suffrage was granted to any person 

twenty-one years of age, owning real 

^^^ ' estate to the amount of twenty pounds, 

and recommended by the selectmen of his town as of 

honest, civil, and peaceable conversation. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

As in Connecticut, so in Rhode Island, various 
Providence isolated settlements were at first made, 
Plantatioa. which soon found it necessary to unite for 
mutual protection. In 1636 Roger Williams and five 



CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. 95 

others began a settlement at Providence. They were 
soon joined by others ; and Williams, who had received 
a deed from Indian chiefs, divided the land equally 
between himself and his associates. From the incom- 
plete records of the town, it appears that the people 
met monthly to determine matters of general interest, 
but delegated no power except to a clerk and a treasurer. 
There is a record of an early compact in which the 
signers agreed to subject themselves " only in civil 
things " to such orders as should be made by the 
majority of the masters of families inhabiting the town. 
This limitation of the civil authority to " civil things " 
is characteristic of all the legislation of this colony. 

Within a few years (1640), it became necessary to 
have a more complete civil organization, Early Govern- 
and it was determined to choose five '' dis- "^®^*' 
posers," as they were called, to attend to the general 
business of the town. They were to meet by them- 
selves monthly, and quarterly were to report to the 
town, and give up their trust for a new election. In- 
stead of making these selectmen judges, as was done in 
the other colonies, all private disputes were to be settled 
by arbitrators chosen by the parties to the quarrel, or, 
if they refused, by the " disposers." Special town 
meetings could be called at the request of any citizen 
who was dissatisfied with the action of the selectmen. 
This was the most completely democratic government in 
New England. In fact, it was too democratic to work 
successfully. It allowed too much liberty to individuals, 
and gave too little authority to the community. 

In 1638 a settlement was made at Portsmouth, and 
in the next year one at Newport ; both by Rhode island 
people from Massachusetts who, like Wil- Plantation. 



96 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

liams and his friends, had left that colony to escape 
from the intolerance of the ruling class. In these two 
towns the business was transacted in general meetings. 
Soon a judge and elders were chosen, whose official 
duties corresponded with those of the selectmen in the 
other colonies ; and provision was also made for trial by 
jury. Frequent meetings of the townsmen were held. 
In 1640 the two towns united ; and a general govern- 
ment was established, consisting of a governor, deputy 
governor, and assistants, chosen annually by the free- 
men. Provision was made for a regular administration 
of justice ; and the official positions, and the meetings for 
election and of the general court, were shared equally 
by the two towns. 

In 1644 Wilhams obtained from the English Parlia- 
The Charter ment a charter uniting the three towns for 
Government. j;}^q purpose of government, empowering 
them to adopt such form, and to choose such officers and 
make such laws, as they saw fit. After a delay of three 
years, they organized a government similar to that in 
the other colonies, but could not agree, and soon sepa- 
rated. In 1663 Charles II. granted another charter 
more explicit in its details, but giving to the people the 
most perfect liberty in election of officers and in legis- 
lation, and establishing complete religious toleration. 
The administration was to be in the hands of a gover- 
nor, deputy governor, and assistants, who were to hold 
courts at Providence and Newport for judicial business. 
The towns were to choose deputies to the general court ; 
and these with the magistrates formed the legislature. 
As in Connecticut, the people were so completely inde- 
pendent that the revolution added nothing to their 
political privileges ; and this charter formed the only 
constitution until 1842. 



CONNECTICUT AND BHODE ISLAND. 97 

SUMMARY. 

1. The title to the territory of Connecticut was based 
on a grant to the Earl of Warwick by the Council for 
New England ; and the land was purchased from the 
Indians. 

2. There were originally two principal colonies, each a 
group of towns. The Connecticut colony was founded 
by emigrants from near Boston ; the New Haven colony, 
by persons from England. 

3. The Connecticut colony was at first governed by a 
Massachusetts commission, afterward under a constitu- 
tion prepared by itself, which organized a representative 
government after the Massachusetts model, but did not 
make church-membership necessary to suffrage. 

4. The New Haven colony started with the idea that 
the church should control the state, and therefore gave 
the suffrage only to church-members. Its form of gov- 
ernment was essentially the same as in the other 
colonies. 

5. The two colonies were united by a royal charter, 
which placed all political power in the hands of the 
people. The organization was the same as had pre- 
viously existed in the Connecticut colony ; and the con- 
ditions of suffrage were the same. 

6. Towns existed from the beginning with powers of 
local administration. 

7. Rhode Island at first existed as two colonies known 
as the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

8. Providence was founded by Roger Williams, who 
had been sent away from Massachusetts Bay ; and New- 
port and Portsmouth by Coddington and others, who 
were also exiles. 



98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IK THE UNITED STATES. 

9. The founders established the most perfect equality, 
vesting but little authority in any officers. It was a 
fundamental article in all their compacts and laws, that 
the government should control the people " only in 
civil things." 

10. The different towns at first governed themselves, 
but were afterwards united, first by a parliamentary 
charter, and afterwards by one from the king. 

11. Under the last charter, absolute religious freedom 
was secured, and a representative government wholly 
in the hands of the people was organized. 

12. In the charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut, 
no authority was reserved by the king ; and they there- 
fore formed the constitution of the States until some 
time after the Revolution, 



/>1,A... 



^^^^^^^^^^^"1:2 ^ 




CHAPTER XII. i 

THE COLONIES OF NEW HAMPSHIEE AND MAINE. 
NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

In 1622 the Council for New England made a grant 
of land between the Merrimack, the Ken- 
nebec, the ocean, and the River of Canada, 
to two men, Gorges and Mason ; who called their terri- 
tory Laconia. Under their direction, the next year, a 
few persons settled on the Piscataqua at Portsmouth 
and at Dover ; but it was several years before either 
colony acquired much importance. In 1633 a small 
company of people from England settled at Dover ; and, 
a few years after, some disaffected people from Massa- 
chusetts joined them. There was great diversity of 
religious opinion, and much contention. New proprie- 
tors claimed the territory, and employed agents to 
govern the people ; but in 1640 the settlers formed a 
combination for self-government. A short time before 
this, Exeter had been founded by people from Massachu- 
setts, — a part of the same class that settled the Rhode 
Island Plantation. Here a church was founded, and a 
form of government set up ; a governor being chosen, 
and the whole body making laws. In 1638 Hampton 
was settled under the authority of the Massachusetts 
Court ; and the next year it was empowered to act as a 
town, and to send a deputy to the legislature. 



100 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Massachusetts, under her charter, claimed the terri- 
Cession to Mas- ^ory occupied by these four towns. To 
sachusetts. \)q f^gg from domestic disturbance and con- 
tested claims, in 1641 a portion of the patentees of Dover 
and Portsmouth ceded to Massachusetts the jurisdiction 
over their territory. She accepted the grant, and took 
measures for administering the government. Persons 
who were freemen before the union were allowed to 
vote, and hold office, though not church-members ; and 
two deputies were sent to the General Court. In 1643, 
on petition of the inhabitants, Exeter was received 
under the Massachusetts government ; and in the 
same year all the towns north of the Merrimack were 
formed into a county called Norfolk. Local justice 
was administered as in the other parts of Massa- 
chusetts. 

New Hampshire remained thus a part of Massachu- 
Made a Royal setts until 1679 ; when it was declared by 
Province. the English government a royal province, 

and a president and council were appointed by the king. 
These persons were to have judicial functions, subject 
to an appeal to the king ; and, with an assembly of 
deputies from the towns, might make laws, also subject 
to the approval of the king. At the first meeting after 
the organization of the government, a code of laws was 
framed ; in which it was declared that " no act, imposi- 
tion, law, or ordinance should be made, or imposed upon 
them, but such as should be made by the assembly, and 
approved by the president and council." 

Tliis government, so favorable to the people, was 
Oppressive Ad- soon superseded by one which was oppress- 
ministration. jye {^ the extreme. A new governor was 
appointed, with increased power. He might adjourn or 



NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 101 

dissolve the assembly at his pleasure, might appoint all 
military and judicial officers, constitute judicial courts, 
and remove members of the council. 

The people were perpetually harassed by the claims 
of Mason and his heirs, who demanded the payment of 
quit-rents, and in whose interests the governors were 
appointed, — men whose only object waste enrich them- 
selves at the expense of the colony. There was much 
trouble between the people and their officers until the 
establishment of the royal government over Massachu- 
setts, when New Hampshire was included under the 
administration of Dudley and afterward of Andros. 
All the colonies suffered ahke from the tyranny of this 
man. 

After the revolution, which left New England without 

e^overnment, the four towns which still con- „ ,t • . 
. 1 ^T TT 1 . 1 . Re-Union to 

stituted New Hampshire were at their re- Massachu- 
quest again united to Massachusetts (1690), ^®"^' 
and represented in its General Court. They would have 
chosen to remain in this condition ; but the English gov- 
ernment, always willing to curtail the power of Massa- 
chusetts, declined to sanction the union ; and, when the 
Province charter was given (1691), New Hampshire was 
not included. She was again placed under a governor 
and council appointed by the crown, with Again Sepa- 
whom were associated the usual assembly rated, 
of deputies. During most of the time until the Revo- 
lution, New Hampshire and Massachusetts had the same 
royal governors. These usually resided in Boston, leav- 
ing the administration of affairs in the smaller province 
to their lieutenants. 

In the early part of the eighteenth centuiy, the set- 
tlements ^ere extended towards the west, and north as 

9* 



102 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

far as Concord, numbers of people from the north of 
Ireland settling Londonderry and the adjacent towns. 

MAINE. 

In 1628 the Council for New England gave to the col- 
Kennebec Set- ony of New Plymouth a grant of land on 
tiement. i\^q Kennebec ; and they proceeded to erect 

a trading-house. In 1652 Parliament confirmed and ex- 
tended the grant. In 1654 the government of Plymouth 
sent a commissioner thither to organize a local govern- 
ment. About twenty persons took an oath of fidelity 
to the government of Plymouth, and chose an assistant 
to act with the commissioner in judicial matters. A 
brief code of laws was promulgated, which, among other 
things, provided for trial by jury, and also that capital 
crimes should be tried at Plymouth. It was not long 
before the territory was sold. 

Under the early patents granted to Mason and Gorges, 
small settlements had been made at Saco and York ; 
but it was not until 1639 that any thing worthy the 
Gorges' Prov- name of government existed. In that year 
iace. Gorges received a new charter as Lord Pro- 

prietary of the Province of Maine. The territory was 
to extend from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec, and 
from the ocean to a line drawn between the two rivers 
at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from 
their mouths. 

The form of government which the charter proposed 
Proprietary ^^^ quite monarchical. Power was given 
Government. to the proprietor to establish churches, 
organize courts, appoint all kinds of officers, make war, 
regulate trade, and, with representatives of the people,, 
make laws. . He might also grant lands subject to such 



NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 103 

conditions as he chose. He proceeded to organize his 
government by appointing a deputy governor and a 
council. He divided his territory into two counties, 
in each of which was a court, and from which deputies 
were chosen to the legislature. To York was given a 
city charter which authorized the citizens to choose a 
mayor, aldermen, and council, and the usual subordinate 
officers. Palfrey says, " Probably as many as two-thirds 
of the adult males were in places of authority ; " and he 
describes the whole as " grave foolery." In a few years 
Saco was separated from the Province, and settlements 
were made at Wells and Kittery. In 1649 the inhabit- 
ants of those towns, finding themselves with a pomp- 
ous form of government but no substance, met at 
York, and formed a body politic, choosing officers to 
govern them. 

About this time Massachusetts had learned that all 

this territory came within the limits of her 

,, 1,1, .. ..,. Acquisition of 

patent, and set about acqunmg jurisdic- Territory by 

tion. The General Court sent three com- Massachusetts, 
missioners to Kittery ; which after some hesitation, in 
1652, submitted, and was constituted a town of Massa- 
chusetts. Its inhabitants were allowed to become 
freemen, without the religious quahfications ; and they 
sent two deputies to the General Court. York followed 
the example of Kittery, and received the same privilege. 
The other three towns soon gave up their claims to 
independence ; and all were united into a county called 
York. In a few years Massachusetts extended her 
jurisdiction to Casco Bay. 

Things remained in this condition for about twenty 
years; when Massachusetts, finding that the English 
government did not recognize the validity of her title, 



104 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

bought the province, and thus assumed a new relation. 

*r r. ^^ Gorges transferred to Massachusetts the 
Massachusetts ° 

becomes Pro- extensive powers conferred by his charter ; 
prietor. ^^^ Maine, instead of being a part, became 

only a dependency of her sister State. In 1680 Mas- 
sachusetts established a provincial government. It was 
to consist of a president appointed annually by the gov- 
ernor and assistants of Massachusetts, and a legislature. 
This was to consist of a standing council appointed by 
Massachusetts, and an assembly of deputies from the 
towns. 

This arrangement was of short duration. Massachu- 
TJnion with Mas- setts soon lost her own independence, and 
sachusetts. with it all power as Lord Proprietary. 
Under the administration of Dudley and Andros, Maine 
experienced the same hardships as the other New 
England colonies. The Province charter of 1691 again 
united the two colonies ; and from that time until 1820 
the history of Maine is merged in that of Massachusetts. 

SUMMAEY. 

1. The territory between the Merrimack and Ken- 
nebec was granted to Gorges and Mason in 1622. The 
first settlements were at Portsmouth and Dover. They 
were small, and had little government. 

2. Exeter was settled by Massachusetts dissenters, 
and was self-governing. Hampton was settled under 
the authority of Massachusetts, and governed like the 
other Massachusetts towns. 

3. Massachusetts acquired jurisdiction over all these 
places. They were formed into a county, and sent dep- 
uties to the General Court. 

4. In 1679 New Hampshire was made a royal prov- 



NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 105 

ince, with a president and council appointed by the 
king. An assembly of deputies was to represent the 
people. This government became burdensome and 
obnoxious ; and the rule of Andros was not less so. 

5. After the revolution of 1689, New Hampshire 
united itself again to Massachusetts, but by the pro- 
vincial charter of 1691 was separated, having the same 
governor, but a distinct assembly. 

6. New Plymouth owned a tract of land on the 
Kennebec, which she governed by commissioners. It 
was soon sold. 

7. A portion of territory between the Piscataqua 
and Kennebec, and extending inland one hundred and 
twenty miles, was granted to Gorges, and called the 
Province of IMaine. He set up a government, appoint- 
ing a governor and council, and forming two counties 
from which deputies were sent to a legislature. York 
and Saco were the principal towns. 

8. The towns were soon left to govern themselves ; 
and Massachusetts claimed and acquired the jurisdic- 
tion over them, governing them like her own towns. 

9. Massachusetts bought the Province from Gorges, 
and thus became Proprietor. She established a provin- 
cial government, which existed until Massachusetts lost 
her own independence ; when the two were united, and 
remained one until 1820. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE NEW-ENGLAND CONFEDERACY. 

Not only did the New-England colonies lay broad 

and strong the foundations of local and 
Its Foundation. . t . t -, . i ^ ^ i i 

individual governments, but they also in- 
augurated the policy of union. In 1643 articles of 
confederation were drawn up and adopted by the four 
colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and 
New Haven. They gave as reasons for the act, the dis- 
turbed condition of affairs in the mother country, and the 
troublesome character of their neighbors. There was 
evidently the purpose to prepare for the worst in case 
the opening conflict between their enemy the king, and 
their friends the Parliament, should result unfavorably 
to the Puritan cause. The measure was certainly an 
assumption of a degree of sovereignty to which, as sub- 
jects of England, they had no claim. "When, after the 
Restoration, their enemies endeavored to prejudice the 
king against them, they pointed to this league as con- 
clusive evidence that the colonies meditated independ- 
ence. 

The four colonies were bound together in a league of 
Kature of the friendship for offence and defence, for mu- 
TTnion. tual advice and succor in preserving and 

propagating their religious faith, and for their mutual 

106 



THE NEW-ENGLAND CONFEDERACY. 107 

safety and welfare. The name of the confederacy was 
The United Colonies of New England. No new mem- 
ber could be admitted to the union, nor could two of 
the colonies be united, without the consent of the rest ; 
and each colony was to be independent within its own 
limits. 

The business of the confederacy was intrusted to 
commissioners, — two from each colony. 
No action could be taken without the con- 
currence of six members of the board. If so many 
could not agree, the business was referred to the gene- 
ral courts of the colonies for decision. This board 
chose its own president, who had no powers beyond 
those of any presiding officer. The meetings were 
held annually, or oftener, in the principal towns in the 
colonies. 

For carrying on war, supplies of men and means were 
furnished in proportion to the number of 
male inhabitants between the ages of six- 
teen and sixty in the respective colonies. The spoils 
taken in war were distributed in the same proportion. 
In case of the invasion of any one of the colonies, the 
others sent aid on request of the local magistrates. If but 
little aid was needed, only the nearest confederate was 
called upon ; but Massachusetts might be required to 
send at once one hundred armed men with provision, 
and each of the others forty-five men. No larger draft 
could be made until a meeting of the commissioners 
had been held, when they might call for such troops as 
they deemed necessary. 

The articles authorized the commissioners to fi-ame 
such agreements and orders as should pro- 
mote peace between the colonies by secur- 



108 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

ing justice to the citizens of the different jurisdictions, 
by adopting a uniform policy towards the Indians, and 
by restoring runaway servants and fugitives from jus- 
tice. No colony might engage in war, and thus endanger 
its associates, without the consent of six commissioners. 
A breach of the articles of confederation by any mem- 
ber of the league was to be considered by the commis- 
sioners of the others, who should determine the course 
to be pursued. 

These articles were adopted by the General Court of 
Adoption of the Massachusetts, and by the commissioners 
Articles. from New Haven and Connecticut, and 

were submitted by the General Court of Plymouth 
to the townships of the colony ; by each of which they 
were ratified. Rhode Island was denied admittance to 
the union, on the ground that its territory belonged to 
Plymouth. It is estimated that the population of the 
four colonies at this time was almost twenty-four thou- 
sand ; of which Massachusetts had fifteen thousand, 
Connecticut and Plymouth each three thousand, and 
New Haven twenty-five hundred. 

While the commissioners met frequently, and made 
Dissensions in suggestions respecting such matters as 
the Confederacy, have been mentioned, the inherent weak- 
ness of the confederacy was shown in the controversy 
with Massachusetts about a war with the Dutch. 
New Haven was troubled by the demands of her neigh- 
bors of New Netherlands, and suspected that the Dutch 
governor was inciting the Indian tribes to a general war 
upon the English colonies. On the strength of this sus- 
picion, she appealed to the commissioners, who proposed 
to declare war. The General Court of Massachusetts, 
knowing that that colony would be obliged to bear the 



THE NEW-ENGLAND CONFEDERACY. 109 

largest part of the expense, refused to be governed by 
the action of the commissioners, declaring that the 
articles of confederation gave them power only in 
defensive warfare, and that no agreement could bind a 
colony to perform an act which her conscience told her 
was wrong. The other colonies protested against the 
action of Massachusetts, accusing her of violating her 
faith ; but she was firm in her refusal to be forced into 
what she thought a causeless war. After several 
months spent in angry discussion, the matter was settled 
by partial concession on both sides. But things had 
taken a more peaceable turn : there was now no occasion 
for war, and. Massachusetts gained her point. The whole 
affair showed that any of the colonies might at pleasure 
disregard the voice of the commissioners, and that they 
could do no more than recommend and advise. 

The same weakness appeared when Connecticut 
obtained her charter, which gave her jurisdiction over 
New Haven. The articles of confederation stipulated 
that no two members should be united without the 
c»nsent of all. New Haven protested against the 
demand of Connecticut, that she should cause of Disso- 
surrender her independence ; and she was lotion, 
sustained by Massachusetts and Plymouth. But Con- 
necticut insisted, and finally carried her point, thus 
virtually dissolving the confederacy (1665). 

After several years, a new and similar league was 
formed between Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
and Connecticut. The only business of ^^"°°^^^^"^- 
importance transacted by this second confederacy was 
the management of King Philip's war. When James 
II. overthrew the popular governments in New Eng- 
land, this colonial union perished ; to be succeeded by a 

10 



110 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

more enduring one when the general safety was endan- 
gered, not by neighboring savages, but by England 
itself. 

SUMIVIAEY. 

1. In 1643 the colonies of Massachusetts, Pl^Tnouth, 
Connecticut, and New Haven formed a league for mu- 
tual counsel and aid. 

2. The business of the union was intrusted to two 
commissioners from each colony. 

3. In case of invasion of any colony, the others were 
to assist with men and means. The colonies were to 
furnish supplies in proportion to their fighting popula- 
tion. 

4. There was no power in the confederacy to compel 
obedience to the decisions of the commissioners. 

5. The league came to an end in 1665, by the union 
of New Haven with Connecticut. 

6. A second league was formed by the three 
colonies, and by it King Philip's war was carried on. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE COLONIES OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY. 
NEW YORK. 

After Henry Hudson had explored the river which 
bears his name, in 1609, Dutch merchants 
sent vessels to trade with 'the Indians, and 
established an agency for the purpose on Manhattan 
Island. In 1615 they formed a company, and received 
from the government of Holland the monopoly of the 
trade for four years. They established another trading- 
post near the present site of Albany, and erected rude 
forts at both places ; but the settlers were few. In 1621 
the West India Company was formed, with more exten- 
sive powers both for trade and colonization. They 
sent a considerable body of people to Albany, and, soon 
after, still more to the settlement on Manhattan, which 
they called New Amsterdam. The whole territory 
between the Connecticut and the Delaware they called 
New Netherlands. 

The administration of affairs was intrusted to an 
officer styled director-general, appointed Government by 
by the home government, and a council the Dutch, 
appointed in the same way. This body acted both as 
an executive council and as a judicial court. In 1629 

special inducements were offered for the purpose of pro- 

111 



112 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

moting settlements. Any person who, within four years, 
would bring into the colony fifty persons over fifteen 
years of age, was promised the title ''pa- 
troon," a large grant of land, and extensive 
commercial privileges, with complete civil and criminal 
jurisdiction throughout his domain. At the same time, 
actual settlers, emigrating at their own expense, were 
promised as much land as they could cultivate. Under 
this provision two classes of settlements arose. Large 
tracts of land were taken up by the patroons, and com- 
munities established under their control. They ap- 
pointed local officers for administrative and judicial 
business. From their decision appeals might be made 
to the governor and council. The settlers had no 
political and few civil rights. 

Numerous bodies of free settlers formed communi- 
Local Adminis- ties along the Hudson in New Jersey, and 
tration. on Long Island. Such local officers as 

sheriffs, clerks, and magistrates, were appointed for 
these by the director and council, to whom appeals 
could be made from the local courts. For the first 
thirty years, the people seem to have had no voice 
either in the local or general government ; and they 
frequently quarrelled with the governors about ques- 
tions of authority. Sometimes the right of appeal from 
the director to Holland was denied ; and the exercise 
of authority was always arbitrary and often oppressive. 
Justice was administered according to the common 
law of Holland and the enactments of the West 
India Company and the director-general. At different 
times, the governor summoned a few men from some 
of the larger communities to consult with the council 
about Indian affairs. In 1653 New Amsterdam was 



THE COLONY OP NEW YORK. 113 

incorporated after the manner of Dutch towns, and a 
board of aldermen and magistrates were appointed by 
the governor. During the next ten years, the communi- 
ties acquired some new powers by being allowed to 
choose double the number of persons required for the 
local officers ; from whom the governor selected those 
who should serve as magistrates. Many English towns 
on Long Island had organized themselves after the 
New England model. 

The people came to be dissatisfied with the small 
share which they had in the administra- Popular Dis- 
tion, but could get no satisfaction from the satisfaction, 
governors or from the company. At one time they 
sent a remonstrance to the government of Holland, set- 
ting forth the grievances of the province, and citing the 
example of New England, " where neither patroons, nor 
lords, nor princes are known ; but only the people." 
Thus it appears that the independent spirit of New 
England was contagious ; and, throughout the colonial 
period, whenever any people wished for more extended 
liberties, they cited the prosperity of New England as 
an argument in favor of local self-government. Any 
remonstrance to the company was answered by an 
order to the governor to suppress sedition, and to punish 
the complainants in an exemplary manner. 

The English government never recognized the claim 
of the Dutch to land in North America ; conquest by the 
and in 1664 King Charles gave to his English, 
brother, the Duke of York, all the territory of New 
Netherlands, including Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, 
Nantucket, the Hudson River, and the land from tlie 
west side of the Connecticut River to the east side of 
Delaware Bay. The same royal commissioners who came 

10* 



114 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

to examine the charter governments of New England, 
and who were treated so uncepemoniously in Massa- 
chusetts, were empowered to demand the surrender of 
the Dutch territory. The people made no resistance, 
and the Duke of York became proprietor of New Neth- 
erlands. This relation gave to him the exclusive right 
to the soil, to the revenues, and to the control of the 
civil administration. 

The people expected an improvement in their politi- 
Proprietary cal condition ; but it was nearly twenty 
Government. years before their share in the provincial 
government was extended. The proprietor appointed 
a governor and council ; and in their hands were the 
executive, legislative, and supreme judicial functions. 
The towns were authorized to choose a constable and a 
board of overseers, who managed the local affairs ; and 
there was a justice of the peace appointed by the gov- 
ernor, who presided at the town courts. There was a 
county court which held jury trials, and from which in 
important cases appeals might be made to a supreme 
court called the " court of assize," held once a year, 
and composed of the governor, council, and town ma- 
gistrates. All men who took the oath of allegiance to 
the proprietor, and were not servants or laborers, and 
owned a town lot, were freemen. 

For nearly twenty years, the proprietor refused all 
Representative requests to call an assembly of the people. 
Assembly. and continued to burden them with taxes 

which they had no voice in levying. At length, in 
1683, he yielded to their entreaties and to the advice 
of friends, and instructed his governor to call an 
assembly. This body consisted of the governor and 
council, and seventeen deputies elected by the free- 
holders. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. llS 

A charter of liberties was prepared, which at length 
brought the colony into line with those charter of Lib- 
about it. It declared that supreme legisla- erties. 
tive power should forever remain vested in the governor, 
council, and people, met in general assembly. Every 
freeholder and freeman might vote without restraint for 
representatives. No tax should be assessed without 
the consent of the assembly. Trial by jury was estab- 
lished, and religious toleration declared. The governor 
had a veto on all acts of the assembly ; and the duke 
might reject any law. On the accession of the proprie- 
tor to the throne of England as James II., these privi- 
leges were revoked ; and New York was governed like 
the New England colonies, without an assembly. 

On the accession of Wilham and Mary, the people 
elected deputies from the counties, who Permanent Gov- 
met in assembly with the new governor, e^'^ment. 
and re-organized the government. They established a 
revenue, organized a judiciary, and declared the right 
of the people to a voice in the administration. The 
latter provision was repealed by the king ; but practi- 
cally, from this time, the legislative department was 
constituted as in the other provinces. As in New Eng- 
land, from this time to the declaration of independence 
there was a continual struggle between the assembly 
and the royal governor concerning their respective 
powers. The question of salaries was especially vexing. 
After a time the assembly established the practice of 
making special appropriations for each purpose of gov- 
ernment, and making these only for a year at a time. 
The government retained its form until the Revolution, 
the people exhibiting the same spirit in resisting Brit- 
ish encroachments that marked the other colonies. 



J 



116 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
NEW JERSEY. 

The territory now occupied by New Jersey had been 

a part of the province of New Netherlands, 
First Proprietor. i . • , ^ i , • i i 

and m its northern parts was occupied by 

a few scattering Dutch families. It was included in 
the grant made by Charles to the Duke of York, and 
was by him immediately assigned to Lords Berkeley and 
Carteret with all the proprietary rights which accom- 
panied the original grant. They took measures to 
induce emigration ; and their concessions were so hberal 
that in a short time numerous flourishing towns were 
established by people from the other colonies and from 
England. 

The government which the proprietors set up was to 

be exercised by a governor and council and 
The Government. , " 

general assembly. Ihe governor was to 

be appointed by the proprietors, the council by the 
governor. The general assembly was the legislature. 
It was to consist of the governor and council, and 
deputies chosen by the freemen of the towns. This 
body was to make laws subject to the approval of the 
proprietary. It had power to constitute courts, to levy 
taxes, to provide for the defence of the province, and 
to make annual appropriations for maintaining the 
government. Thus the privileges for which some of 
the other colonies struggled for years were granted at 
the outset ; especially the right to lay taxes, and to con- 
trol the provincial expenditures. The right to appeal 
to the proprietor was granted in all cases. Freedom of 
conscience and worship was also secured. Local char- 
ters of incorporation were given to the various com- 
munities, by which they were empowered to make their 
own by-laws, to choose their own municipal officers, and 
to hold courts for deciding small causes. 



THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY. 117 

These local governments went at once into operation, 
and continued without interruption ; but Disturbed Ad- 
the provincial government was for a ministration, 
long time in a confused state. The demand of the 
proprietors for the payment of annual quit-rents met 
with much opposition, especially from those who had 
occupied the land previous to the grant to Berkeley and 
Carteret. Some of the towns refused to acknowledge 
the jurisdiction of the proprietors ; and the meetings of 
the general assembly were frequently suspended for 
several years. 

About ten years from the establishment of the propri- 
etary authority, the province was divided ; Division of the 
and the western portion came into the -Province, 
hands of William Penn and several others, who pro- 
ceeded to exercise the proprietary right of jurisdiction. 
A government was established, consisting of a governor 
and council, and an assembly representing the people. 
This assembly was to have the appointment of all offi- 
cers except the governor, was to fix salaries, New Govem- 
and to levy taxes. Liberty of conscience ^^^^.t. 
was allowed ; and, in general, the principles of popular 
government were recognized. The province was divided 
into "tenths;" and these into "proprieties," each of 
which chose a representative. Two districts for judi- 
cial purposes were established, and courts organized. 
This part of the province was settled chiefly by Quakers 
from England and Ireland. 

East New Jersey soon after came into the hands of 
the same Quaker proprietors who owned the western 
province ; but the form of government remained essen- 
tially the same. Counties were soon established in both 
provinces, and courts established ; and the representa- 



118 CIYIL GOVERNMEKT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

tives to the assembly came to be chosen by the counties, 
instead of by the " tenths." 

During the first thirty years of the history of the 
colony, there were continual disputes between the pro- 
prietors and the Duke of York, between the successive 
proprietors themselves, and between the proprietors 

^^ , ^ and the people. There was hardly any 
New Jersey be- i i i 

comes a Royal time when there was not more or less 

Province. confusion in the administration of public 

affairs. This unfortunate condition was terminated in 
1702, when the proprietors surrendered to the crown all 
their jurisdiction in both provinces. In that year, one 
royal province was formed, with a governor and council 
appointed by the crown, and an assembly of deputies 
chosen partly by counties and partly by some of the 
towns. A large property qualification was required 
both for the representatives and for the voters ; but this 
was afterward diminished. Laws made were subject to 
the negative of the governor, and were to be trans- 
mitted to the crown for approval. The governor and 
council were authorized to constitute courts of justice, 
and to appoint all judicial officers. 

Thus it appears that the new government was much 
less favorable to the interests of the people than the 
old had been. The control of the judiciary, of expen- 
Preparation for ditures, and of its own sessions, was taken 
Independence, fj^om the assembly, and nothing given in 
their place. New Jersey, like Massachusetts, had less 
political liberty in the second period of its history than 
in the first ; and it was this very change which prepared 
the people for complete independence. From this time 
until the Revolution, the history of New Jersey resem- 
bles that of the other provinces. The royal governors 



THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY. 119 

were frequently haughty and exacting, the assemblies 
sometimes submissive, but more often persistent in 
resisting what were considered violations of their 
rights. The people were gradually driven to see that 
the only security for permanent peace was in independ- 
ence ; and they united readily with the other colonies 
in securing it. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The territory between the Connecticut and the 
Delaware Rivers was claimed by the Dutch, and called 
New Netherlands. 

2. From 1615 to 1621, settlements were made at 
New York and Albany, under the Dutch West India 
Company. 

3. Political power was wholly in the hands of a 
director-general and a council appointed by the com- 
pany. For the first thirty years, the people had no 
voice either in the local or general administration. 

4. The people became dissatisfied with their condi- 
tion, contrasting it with the freedom of New England ; 
but their complaints were not heeded. 

5. King Charles of England gave the territory to 
the Duke of York, who took it from the Dutch in 
1664. 

6. The people obtained no voice in the colonial 
government until 1683, when a representative assembly 
was formed, and a charter of liberties granted. 

7. On the accession of the Duke of York to the 
throne of England as James IL, the colony became 
a royal province, and was under the government of 
Andros. 

8. Under William and Mary, the colony came to be 



120 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

governed in nearly the same manner as Massachusetts ; 
and the people, from this time, were earnest in defence 
of their political privileges. 

9. The territory of New Jersey was granted by the 
Duke of York to proprietors, who encouraged emigra- 
tion, and gave to the settlers extensive political powers. 

10. The local administration was in the hands of the 
people, and continued to be so without interruption. 
Dissension between the proprietors and the people 
caused the colonial government to be frequently in a 
confused state. 

11. The colony next came under the control of 
William Penn and others, by whom the people were 
favorably treated ; but the dissension continued. 

12. In 1702 the colony became a royal province, 
governed like the others, and subject to the same 
encroachments of king and parliament. 




CHAPTER XV. 

THE COLONIES OF PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, A¥I> 
MARYLAND. 

PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. 

Soon after the colonization of New York by the 
Dutch, a company of Swedes settled on Early Settie- 
the Delaware near the present site of ments. 
Newcastle ; and they extended their limits northward 
nearly to where Philadelphia is now situated, and south- 
ward. After a few years, the Dutch governor of New 
Netherlands compelled them to submit to his rule ; and 
they were governed in the same way as the villages of 
New York. After the conquest by the English, this 
whole territory was claimed by the Duke of York, and, 
being formed into three counties, was under United to New 
the control of the English governor of ''^<^^^- 
New York. The laws of England were substituted 
for those of Holland ; and Newcastle was incorporated 
as a city with the usual officers. 

In 1681 William Penn obtained from Charles II. a 
grant of the land now included in the 
State of Pennsylvania. The description 
of the southern boundary seemed to conflict with the 
claims of the proprietor of Maryland ; and disputes 
arose which were not settled until 1763. In that year, 

11 121 



122 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the final survey was made ; and the boundary has since 
been famous as Mason and Dixon's line. This charter 
gave to Penn the usual proprietary right to govern the 
settlers, and to appoint officers, but also required him 
to hold assemblies of the people for legislation. 

At the date of Penn's charter, there were within 
Settlements by ^^^^ limits of his province some Dutch and 
^®^' Swedes; and he soon obtained from the 

Duke of York a cession of the lower counties, as they 
were called, on the Delaware. Penn immediately sent 
out a colony under a deputy governor. The next year 
he came himself ; and the country along the river was 
rapidly filled by Quakers from England and the Conti- 
nent. No other colony grew so rapidly, nor from the 
beginning was so flourishing. 

Penn very early divided the province into counties, 
Government from each of which delegates were chosen 
under Penn. both to the provincial council and to the 
assembly. The council consisted of eighteen persons 
chosen by ballot by the freemen of the counties for 
three years, one-third retiring annually. This body, 
with the governor or deputy governor, who presided, 
had power to prepare all bills, and propose them to the 
assembly, together with the general executive power, 
the management of the finances and of schools, and 
the establishment of courts of justice. The governor 
could do nothing without the consent of this body. 
The assembly consisted of a large number of delegates 
chosen in the same manner as the councillors. Judges, 
sheriffs, coroners, and justices of the peace were ap- 
pointed and commissioned by the governor. The pro- 
prietor made no change in the form of government 
without the consent of the council and assembly ; but 
in the council he had three votes. 



THE COLONIES OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. 123 

In 1684 Penn returned to England, leaving the 
administration of affairs in the hands of 
the provincial council. While there, dis- 
satisfied with proceedings at home, he commissioned 
five members of the council to act as his deputies in 
transacting executive business ; afterwards, a single 
deputy governor was appointed. About this time the 
territories, as they were called, — that is, the three coun- 
ties on the lower Delaware, — became dissatisfied with 
the administration, and established a separate legis- 
lature. 

In 1692, by William and Mary, Penn's province was 
taken from him, and placed under the jurisdiction of 
the royal governor of New York ; but in 1696 Penn 
was re-instated in his proprietary rights. His deputy, 
Markham, to satisfy the people, who were not quite 
contented with their political relations, made a new 
frame of government. The number of change in Gov- 
members of the council and assembly was ©rnment. 
diminished. Freemen were required to be twenty-one 
years of age, to have resided two years in the province, 
and to possess certain property. The assembly was 
given power to initiate legislation, submit- 
ting bills to the council for approbation. 
The establishment of a judiciary was in the hands of 
the assembly. 

Though Penn's government seems to have been, on 
the whole, liberal, the people were always Farther Changes 
more or less dissatisfied. On his return in the Govern- 
to the province, in 1701, he gave them a "^®^** 
new charter of privileges, extending slightly the 
powers of the assembly, and also giving to the free- 
men the privilege of nominating to him persons for 



124 CIVIL GOVEEmiENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

sheriffs and other inferior officers. The territories, which 
had been again united to Pennsylvania, were given per- 
mission to have a separate legislature, which they availed 
themselves of ; and they remained separate to this ex- 
tent until the Revolution, but having the same proprie- 
tary governor. By this new charter, the powers of the 
council were withdrawn, and the governor acted alone. 
All forms of religion were tolerated. After the death 
of Penn, his sons inherited his proprietary rights, and 
appointed deputy governors to administer the govern- 
ment. There was a council named by the proprietors, 
but not forming a branch of the legislature as formerly. 
The judges were appointed by the deputy governor ; 
but all salaries were granted by the assembly, which 
managed the revenues, and had exclusive control over 
its own sessions. Sheriffs and coroners were chosen 
by the people, and also such local officers as assess- 
ors, overseers of the poor, and pound-keepers. The 
township system was not so complete as in New Eng- 
land ; but the principle of local self-government was 
recognized and acted upon. Thus in Pennsylvania and 
Delaware there had been a gain in the extent of their 
political privileges ; and they continued in this com- 
paratively independent condition until the Revolu- 
tion. 

MARYLAND. 

The colonial history of Maryland is especially inter- 
esting because it presents the first proprietary govern- 
ment, the first royal charter granting to the colonists a 
voice in legislation, and the first example of complete 
religious toleration. Its territory was granted by 
Charles I. to Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic noble- 



THE COLONY OF MAEYLAND. 125 

man, with full proprietary rights (1632). He might 
make laws with the advice, consent, and Proprietary 
approbation of the freemen of the prov- Charter, 
ince ; but the laws must not be repugnant to the laws 
of England. He might impose taxes for his own bene- 
fit ; and the king agreed that no tax should ever be 
laid upon the colony by royal authority. He might 
establish tribunals, erect churches, and control ecclesi- 
astical affairs. He might appoint provincial officers, 
repel invasions, and suppress insurrections. All these 
powers were to be hereditary in the family of the pro- 
prietor. It is a striking feature of the times, illustrat- 
ing the feudal ideas that still prevailed, that the king 
without consulting parliament could convey to a sub- 
ject such almost kingly powers. 

In 1634 the first settlement was made by a company 
of Catholics, mostly men of means. The colonial Assem- 
next year the first colonial assembly met, ^1^®^. 
consisting of all the freemen of the province. There 
is no record of their proceedings. As the colony in- 
creased, a necessity for legislation arose ; and the pro- 
prietor framed a code of laws, which he sent to the 
governor to propose to the freemen. A second assem- 
bly was called ; and, though no fault was found with the 
laws, the colonists refused to allow the initiative of the 
proprietor, and would not ratify the code. They drew 
up a code of their own ; but this was never ratified. 

In 1639 a third assembly was called ; and at this time 

the representative system was established. „ 

rm . 1 , ,, Representative 

llie governor might personally summon System Estab- 

such persons as he chose ; and the people ^^^^®^- 
might send as many delegates as the freemen should 
think proper. A peculiar provision allowed any free- 
11* 



126 CIYIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

man who had not voted for a deputy to have a seat him- 
self in the legislature. The assembly thus consisted 
of the governor, secretary, those specially called, and 
the representatives, called burgesses. These were 
elected from counties. All sat and voted as one body 
until 1649 ; when it was enacted that the persons called 
by the proprietor should form an upper house, and 
those elected by the colonists a lower house, each hav- 
ing a negative upon the other. 

The assembly of 1639 established a judiciary system, 
and made such laws as were necessary. 
In civil cases the governor was made sole 
judge. Capital crimes were to be tried by a jury before 
the governor and his council. County courts were also 
established. The assembly remained the final court of 
appeal. The people early af&rmed the principle that 
no taxes should be imposed without the consent of the 
assembly; but they continued to maintain the most 
grateful and friendly relations to the proprietor. 

The most remarkable enactment was that which 
ReUgioTis Tol- established religious freedom: "No per- 
eration. gon within this province professing to 

believe in Jesus Christ shall be in any ways troubled, 
molested, or discountenanced for his or her religion, or 
in the free exercise thereof." The only other colony 
which at this time professed toleration was Rhode 
Island ; and there Catholics were excepted. The colony 
grew quite rapidly ; but the new-comers were mostly 
Protestants. During the rule of Cromwell and the 
Puritan party in England, the Protestants acquired the 
supremacy in the provincial assembly, and proceeded to 
disfranchise the CathoHc settlers ; but toleration was 
afterward re-established. 



THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 127 

The general features of the government underwent 
no important change until the Revolution. Unlike the 
more northern colonies, the people were unwilling to 
gather in towns ; and, in consequence, churches were 
few and poorly sustained, and little opportunity^ was 
afforded for education. 

The religion of the proprietor subjected him to 
constant misrepresentation and injustice ; The Royal Gov- 
and the peace of the colony was frequently ernment. 
disturbed by quarrels growing out of religious differ- 
ences. During the reign of William and Mary, the pro- 
prietor's political rights were withdrawn, and a royal 
governor was appointed. The province was divided into 
parishes, in each of which a Protestant minister was to 
be appointed by the governor, and supported by a tax 
upon all the inhabitants. The Church of England was 
set up, and Catholics were persecuted. In the parishes, 
the management of affairs was placed in the hands of 
vestries elected by the Protestant inhabitants : and free 
schools and libraries were by law established in all 
the parishes , but these were not flourishing. Such local 
matters as in New England devolved upon the select- 
men were in Maryland cared for by the parochial 
officers. But these soon ceased to be elective, and not 
only held their office for life, but filled the vacancies in 
their bodies by their own appointment. After a sus- 
pension of the rights of the proprietors for twenty-four 
years, they were restored to a descendant of Lord Balti- 
more who was a Protestant. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The territory of Delaware was settled by Swedes 
and Dutch, afterward came into the hands of the Duke 
of York, and was by him ceded to WilUam Penn. 



128 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

2. Pennsylvania was granted to Penn by Charles II., 
and was settled by English Quakers in 1681. 

3. The first government established by Penn gave to 
the people the choice of a legislative assembly and an 
executive council. The local officers were appointed 
by the proprietor. 

4. Subsequent changes were made in the govern- 
ment, all increasing the political privileges of the 
people. 

5. After the death of Penn, his son inherited his 
proprietary rights, and exercised his authority through 
a deputy. The people now, in their assembly, had 
complete legislative power, and controlled their own 
sessions and the finances of the colony. They also 
controlled the local administration. 

6. The Delaware counties obtained a separate legis- 
lature, but had the same executive as Pennsylvania. 
Both remained under the proprietor until the Revolu- 
tion. 

7. Maryland was settled by English Catholics under 
Lord Baltimore, who received proprietary power- from 
Charles I. 

8. In the charter, the king forever exempted the 
colonists from taxation by royal authority. 

9. The people were represented in a legislative assem- 
bly, and early insisted upon making their own laws, 
subject to the approval of the proprietor or his deputy. 

10. The proprietor established religious toleration, 
trial by jury, and local courts of justice ; and the people 
claimed exemption from taxes levied without their 
consent. 

11. During the reign of William and Mary, the 
Church of England was established. The colony was 



THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 129 

divided into parishes each with a Protestant minister 
supported by general tax. The management of local 
affairs came into the hands of parish officers who held 
their place for life. There were no towns. 

12. The colony remained proprietary until the 
Revolution. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 
VIRGINIA. 

The early political history of Virginia is the history 
The London of the London Company, whose forma- 
Company. tion we have already noticed. This com- 

pany, to which was given the power to transport 
settlers, and found colonies, was placed under the con- 
trol of a council resident in England, the members of 
which were appointed by the king. Local affairs in the 
colony were to be managed by an inferior council resi- 
dent in the colony, the members likewise appointed by 
the king. Power was afterwards given to this council 
to elect a president, to remove members, and to fill 
vacancies in its membership. Judicial power was 
placed in the hands of the president and council ; and 
they also had such legislative functions as the king did 
not himself exercise. The settlers had no political 
rights whatever. Property was to be held in common 
for five years. Under this charter, Virginia received 
the first permanent English colony (1607). 

The object of the company was solely commercial 
profit ; and the settlers had no higher mo- 
tive. They came without families, and 
with no intention of making the New World a perma- 

130 



THE COLONY OF VIEGDTIA. 131 

nent residence. Community of property, even when all 
the members of society are well disposed, is fatal to prog- 
ress ; but when a large proportion are idle and vicious 
nothing but disaster can follow. The colony suffered 
from scarcity of food, from disease, from the Indians, 
and from the rivalries and jealousies of those who had 
been appointed to the council. 

In two years, the company received a new charter, 
which enlarged its own powers without 
increasing the liberty of the colonists. 
The local council, with its president, was abolished. 
A single council in England was empowered to man- 
age all colonial affah's, to make laws, and to pro- 
vide for their execution. The king had less power 
than before ; but the colony had no more. Under this 
charter, governors were appointed, who administered a 
military code of laws prepared in England, making 
such additions to it as they pleased. This absolute 
power, in the hands of wise and well-meaning men, 
promoted the prosperity of the colony ; but it gave to 
unprincipled men opportunity for the greatest injus- 
tice. 

The company in England changed from an aristo- 
cratic to a democratic body, the council The Colonial 
being abolished, and all business trans- Assembly, 
acted in general meetings. This change proved favor- 
able to the political interests of the colony ; and, 
in 1619, a governor was appointed, limited in his 
executive authority by a council also appointed by the 
company. He found existing seven distinct planta- 
tions, to which he added four more, composed of 
new settlers. In each of these was a commandant, 
who was chief of the militia, and civil magistrate. 



132 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

From each of these plantations, were summoned two 
representatives, called burgesses ; and these, with the 
governor and council, constituted the first colonial 
legislature in America. 

The company, in 1621, gave to the colony a written 
The Consti- constitution. This provided that all laws 
tution. made by the assembly, to be valid, should 

be ratified by the company, and that the regulations of 
the company should also be submitted to the assembly. 
Trial by jury was also estabhshed. The governor and 
council acted as a court of law ; but appeals might be 
made to the assembly, and from that body to the com- 
pany. The established religion had been from the first 
that of the Church of England. Now the plantations 
were divided into parishes, in each of which a clergy- 
man was to be maintained by a general tax. 

During the next few years, the first extant laws of 
Virginia were enacted. In every planta- 
egis a ion. ^^^^ there was to be a church and a burial- 
ground. Absence from public worship was prohibited. 
No taxes were to be levied by the governor without 
the consent of the assembly ; and the same limitation 
was made to the expenditure of public money. Thus 
early did Virginia declare the great principles of politi- 
cal liberty. 

In every parish, three men were to be sworn to see 
Local Govern- that each settler planted and tended corn 
ment. enough for his family. Each parish was 

also to have a granary, to which every settler was annu- 
ally to bring a certain amount of corn. This was to 
be distributed by vote of a majority of the freemen of 
the parish. This curious provision against scarcity is 
especially important as showing how early the idea of 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 133 

intrusting the management of purely local affairs to the 
people of the district gained a foothold, and found an 
expression. 

In 1624 the company charter was taken away, and 
the government of the colony came into Becomes a Royal 
the hands of the king ; but there was no Province, 
change in the form of the government. In 1632 a 
new code of laws was made, which resembled in many 
respects those more stringent enactments for which New 
England has been celebrated. Attendance at church 
and orderly behavior there, temperance, and purity were 
enjoined ; and persons might be fined for not catechising 
their children and ignorant persons under their charge. 
The voters in the parish received power to lay out high- 
ways. The election of judicial and executive officers 
seems to have been in the hands of the governor and 
council. 

In 1643 some important changes were made. Coun- 
ties were established, and courts set up to Formation of 
be held six times a year by commissioners Counties, 
appointed by the assembly. Parish vestries were 
required to be organized, the vestrymen to be chosen 
by the parishioners. Soon after this, a new and perma- 
nent provision was made, requiring that the voters in 
each county should assemble at a place named by the 
sheriff, and give their votes viva voce for two representa- 
tives in the house of burgesses. This was an imitation 
of the English election custom. 

For a few years, during the time of the Common- 
wealth, the assembly elected the governor Growth of an 
and council, and Virginia was independ- Aristocracy, 
ent; but, after the Restoration, the king resumed his 
authority. Up to this time, the political institutions of 

12 



134 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Virginia had been nearly as free as those of the north- 
ern colonies ; but now a change took place. The set- 
tlers had scattered over a large territory ; and the few 
landholders were cultivating extensive tracts by means 
of slaves and white persons bound to service. These 
persons came now to have all political power. The 
parish vestries were to fill their own vacancies ; the 
county courts were to be held by eight justices of the 
peace appointed by the governor; and these county 
courts were to levy the county taxes, make the county 
by-laws, and appoint the surveyors of the highways. 
Thus the local administration, which, in New England, 
was in the hands of the town officers chosen by the 
people, was vested in county officers appointed by the 
governor. Still later than this, a law was made, that 
none but householders and freeholders should have a 
voice in the election of burgesses. 

The practical working of the system is described in a 
book written at the time. " On each of the great 
rivers of the province are men, in number from ten to 
thirty, who by trade and industry have got very com- 
pC'tent estates. These gentlemen take care to supply 
the poorer sort with goods and necessaries, and are 
sure to keep them always in their debt, and conse- 
quently dependent on them. Out of this number, are 
chosen the council, assembly, justices, and other officers 
of government." It is said that the same causes which 
tended in Virginia to build up a local aristocracy 
operated also in Maryland. 

There was no essential change in the form or prin- 
ciple of government until the Revolution. There were 
frequent disputes between the royal governors and the 
assemblies about their respective powers, just as there 



THE COLONIES OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 135 

were in all the provinces. Virginia was one of the 
foremost in resisting the oppressive commercial meas- 
ures of the English government ; and the resolution of 
independence was presented by her delegates in the 
Continental Congress. 

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

These two colonies had so much in common, that a 
description of the political features of 
either is a description of both. The terri- 
tory occupied by both was included in a grant made by 
Charles II. to eight noblemen (1663) in a proprietary 
charter copied from that given to Lord Baltimore. 

A few refugees from Virginia had occupied the soil 
about the Chowan River ; and some plant- 
ers from Barbadoes settled at the mouth 
of the Cape Fear. To each of these companies, the 
proprietor gave the privilege of nominating a certain 
number of persons from whom a governor and council 
should be selected. These, with an assembly chosen by 
the people, should form the government. Another set- 
tlement was made near the present site of Charleston 
(1670). This was governed in a similar manner. 
After a time the Cape Fear settlement united with 
that at Charleston. 

The proprietors had prepared a constitution which 
embodied the worst features of monarchical The Grand 
and feudal government. It was so com- Model, 

plicated, and so unsuited to the character and circum- 
stances of the people, that it was never put into execu- 
tion, though some attempts were made. The early 
history is full of disputes between the colonies and the 
agents of the proprietors, most of whom used their 



136 CIYIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

position for mercenary ends. After about twenty years, 
the Grand Model, as it was called, was set aside ; but 
the government went on as before. Each of the pro- 
prietors had a delegate in the council in each province. 
The colonists were of various nationalities and sects ; 
and considerable trouble arose concerning 
religion. The proprietors wished to estab- 
lish the Church of England, but there were large num- 
bers of dissenters of different names. Sometimes these 
were allowed equal privileges with the others ; but ulti- 
mately Episcopacy was established, and was supported 
by law until the Revolution. 

In 1705 the colony was divided into parishes. Until 
1716, the members of the assembly of South 
Carolina had been chosen by such of the 
freemen as chose to assemble at Charleston for the pur- 
pose ; but in this year the parishes were made election 
districts. About the same time, the northern province 
was also divided into parishes with the usual officers. 

In 1720 the people rebelled against the proprietary 
Royal Govern- government, and a royal governor was sent 
emments. to Charleston ; and in 1729 the whole prov- 

ince was purchased by the crown, and separate royal 
governors were appointed for the two colonies. From 
this time, the government resembled that of other royal 
provinces. It is impossible to present a picture of the 
early political life of either of these colonies. There 
are no records of the mode in which the assemblies 
were chosen or organized ; and nothing is known as to 
the qualifications required for suffrage. There was 
never so large a number of indentured white persons 
as in Virginia ; and consequently there was not so wide 
a difference in social and political rank as in that State. 



THE COLONY OF GEOEGIA. 137 

The people were so scattered that churches and schools 
could not be maintained; and there was less local 
pohtical activity than in the more densely populated 
colonies. 

GEORGIA. 

Georgia was not only settled last of the thirteen 
colonies, but it differed from them all in its Grant to Trus- 
early civil relations. A number of phil- t®®^. 
anthropic gentlemen received from the king a charter, 
vesting in them as trustees, for twenty-one years, the 
territory between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers 
(1732). Their object was, to provide a home for those 
unfortunate persons whom failure in trade and other 
causes had brought to poverty, and upon whom the 
laws of England pressed with most unjust severity. 

The trustees were to grant small portions of land to 
settlers of this class whom they should 

. 1 , • , rrn J 1 Administration. 

induce to emigrate. Ihere were to be no 
large estates, and no slavery was to be tolerated. The 
trustees received the whole power of legislation. The 
affairs of the corporation were to be in the hands of a 
council ; and such officers as were necessary were to be 
appointed for the colony by this council. Beside the 
English poor, the colony was increased by German 
Protestants, by Scotch Highlanders, and by Moravians. 
The government by the council having proved unsatis- 
factory, a single executive officer was appointed, styled 
president, acting with whom were four councillors. 

After about twenty years, a colonial assembly was 
called, not to legislate, but to advise. In Royal Govem- 
1751 the trustees surrendered their char- ^e'^^- 
ter to the crown ; and a provincial government of the 

. 12* 



138 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

usual form was at once established, and continued until 
the Revolution. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Virginia was settled under the direction of the 
London Company. 

2. At first the king controlled the affairs of the com- 
pany, and the colonists were wholly without political 
privileges. 

3. In 1621 the colony received a written constitu- 
tion establishing a representative assembly. The con- 
sent of this body was required to make any law of the 
company vahd. Trial by jury was also established. 

4. The assembly early declared that no tax could be 
levied without its consent, and assumed the right to 
control the expenditure of the pubhc money. 

5. In 1624 the colony became a royal province, and 
continued so until the Revolution. 

6. Local administration early came to be intrusted to 
parish officers : afterward it was vested in county offi- 
cers appointed by the governor. 

7. Political power came to be chiefly in the hands of 
the wealthy landholders. 

8. The territory of the Carolinas was granted by 
Charles II. to eight English noblemen. 

9. The colonists were few and widely scattered, and 
could not be governed by the complicated constitution 
made by the proprietors. In each colony the proprie- 
tors were represented by a governor, and the people by 
an assembly. 

10. The colony finally became a royal province, gov- 
erned like the others. 

11. The people always guarded their liberty jealous- 



THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 139 

ly, and resisted all attempts of the proprietors to tax 
them. 

12. Georgia was founded as a refuge for the poor of 
England. The land, at first, was held by trustees, who 
governed the people arbitrarily. 

13. Afterward a better class of settlers came; the 
king assumed control ; and the colony was governed like 
the other royal provinces. 



^ 




CHAPTER XVII. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

Feom the beginning of colonial history, as we have 
seen, there had been disputes between the home gov- 
ernment and the colonies concerning their respective 
authority. At first Massachusetts had been the chief 
defender of colonial claims ; but after the revolution of 
1689 had settled political affairs in England, and both 
parties united in a general colonial policy, all the colo- 
nies were strenuous in asserting their rights. 

During all their history, the colonists acknowledged 
Claims of the themselves subjects of England, and suc- 
Coionies. cessively proclaimed the Commonwealth 

and the sovereigns who followed it. They admitted 
the authority of Parliament in general legislation, and 
adopted the English statutes and the common law as 
far as their local circumstances made it possible to do 
so. They were willing to defend the person and terri- 
tory of their sovereign against foreign enemies to the 
extent of their means. 

On the other hand, they claimed, that, in emigrating 
to America, they had not forfeited any of the rights of 
English subjects. Foremost of these were those con- 
ferred by Magna Charta, trial by jury, and the writ of 
habeas corpus. Beside these, they claimed the right of 

140 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 141 

making their own laws, not repugnant to laws of Eng- 
land, through their representatives freely chosen ; and 
especially they insisted, as Englishmen, that no tax 
should be imposed upon them but such as they freely 
voted in their local assemblies. Massachusetts, through 
all her early history, claimed the right of ultimate judi- 
cial decision in all cases whatsoever, and denied the 
legality of appeal to any English authority. 

The sovereigns of the Stuart family, who had little 

respect for the rights of Englishmen at „ ,. , „. 

, -"^ ,,,-,,, ^ , English View of 

home, could hardly be expected to treat American 

these claims of their American subjects ^^^^^^' 
with much more consideration. They had some pretext 
for their arbitrary measures in the complaints and peti- 
tions that were continually urged upon their notice. 
The restrictive poHcy of the Massachusetts colonies made 
them many enemies. The friends of Episcopacy com- 
plained that the acts of supremacy and uniformity were 
set at naught ; Baptists and Quakers, that they were 
persecuted and banished ; Mason and Gorges, that 
their authority had been usurped, and their chartered 
rights infringed ; Rhode Island, that Massachusetts was 
grasping and bigoted ; and the London merchants, that 
the navigation acts were openly violated. All united 
in the assertion that the people of Massachusetts Bay 
were disloyal, and only waiting a favorable opportunity 
to dissolve their allegiance, and set up for themselves. 
In consequence of these calumnies, Massachusetts lost 
her original charter; but her misfortui:ie was soon shared 
by all the northern colonies. When, under James II., 
popular government ceased to exist in England, all 
colonial rights were suspended. 

Soon after the accession of William and Mary, a more 



142 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

definite policy was adopted. Previous to this time, the 
control of American affairs had been in the hands of 
Restrictive Colo- the privy council of the king, or of 
niai Policy. commissioners appointed by that body. 
About 1700 Parliament took control of the adminis- 
tration of the colonies, and began a series of restrictive 
measures designed to cripple colonial industry, and 
increase the dependence of the provinces upon the 
mother country. 

The navigation acts had always been a source of 
Navigation trouble between the two countries. In 
^^^^' 1651 the Long Parliament, aiming a blow 

at Dutch commerce, enacted that no goods should be 
imported into England but in English ships, or in ships 
belonging to the nation where the goods were pro- 
duced. This statute was not enforced against the colo- 
nists. The first parliament after the Restoration 
re-enacted this law with most important additions. It 
was ordered that no merchandise should be imported 
into the colonies but in English vessels navigated by 
Englishmen. Such American products as would not 
compete with those of England were 'forbidden to be 
exported to any but English ports. Sugar, tobacco, 
ginger, indigo, cotton, and dyewoods were included in 
this class. Other articles which might also be pro* 
duced in England could only be sold in ports south of 
Cape Finisterre. Soon another law required that all 
European commodities imported into the colonies 
should be in English ships from England. The colo- 
nists were thus compelled to buy and sell in England, 
in order to build up the interests of English merchants. 
Officers were stationed in the colonial ports to enforce 
these regulations. The first attempt to cripple the 



DECLAEATIOK OF INDEPENDENCE. 143 

manufacturing interest of the colonies was by a statute 
of William III., forbidding the exportation of wool and 
woollen goods out of the colonies, or from one colony to 
another. Next the manufacture of hats was forbidden ; 
and in 1733 a heavy duty was imposed upon the pro- 
ducts of the West Indies imported into the colonies. 
Meanwhile the royal governors were in frequent collis- 
ion with the colonial assemblies. In Massachusetts, 
there were long disputes about salary. The General 
Court insisted upon voting the governor's allowance 
annually, and regulated its amount by his disposition 
towards them. In New York, freedom of the press was 
the principal question at issue. 

In 1764 the celebrated Declaratory Resolves were 
presented in the House of Commons. Declaratory 
These resolutions announced the intention Resolves, 
of the government to raise a revenue in the colonies by 
a stamp tax. This met with the most strenuous oppo- 
sition from the colonists ; and when, in the next year, 
the Act passed, it occasioned the first open resistance. 
The story of the next ten years is too familiar to be 
repeated here. The opposition of the colonies only 
served to strengthen the determination of the British 
government ; and, as the scheme of taxation became 
more and more fully developed, the purpose of the 
colonists to resist acquired definiteness, and became 
nearly universal. 

When the coercive measures of the goverment forced 
the colonists into the war of the Revolu- Progress of In- 
tion, the royal officers were obliged to dependence, 
withdraw. This necessitated temporary arrangements ; 
and in all the colonies provisional governments were 
established. During the year 1775, while the country 



144 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IK THE UNITED STATES. 

was eYerywhere preparing to resist the forces of the 
British government, the thought of independence was 
not tolerated. To defend their rights until reconcilia- 
tion could be effected, and arbitrary measures repealed, 
was the only purpose of the mass of the colonists. But 
when all their petitions had been disregarded, or treated 
with contempt ; when the king had publicly proclaimed 
them rebels, had said in private, "I am unalterably de- 
termined at every hazard, at the risk of every conse- 
quence, to compel the colonies to absolute submission," 
and when he had hired German troops to carry out this 
purpose, — the tone of public sentiment changed ; and 
throughout the country the one subject of thought was 
independence. 

Several months elapsed before the minds of the 
people were fully prepared for the impor- 
"^ ' tant step ; and at the last moment there 

was a strong party which thought the time had not 
come. Meantime, one by one, the several colonial 
assemblies gave their voice for independence. Ban- 
croft says, " Comprehensive instructions reaching inde- 
pendence, though not using the word, had been given 
by Massachusetts in January; by South Carolina in 
March ; by Georgia, April 5 ; North • Carolina on the 
fourteenth of April expressly declared in favor of inde- 
pendence ; Rhode Island, May 14 ; Virginia, May 
15 ; Connecticut, June 14 ; New Hampshire, June 
15 ; New York, June 21 ; Pennsylvania, June 28 ; 
Delaware, June 15. In May the assembly of Vir- 
ginia instructed her delegates in Congress to propose a 
declaration of independence ; and accordingly, on the 
seventh of June, Richard Henry Lee proposed the fol- 
lowing resolution : " That these United Colonies are and 



DECLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 145 

of right ought to be free and independent states, that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown, and that all political connection be- Eesoiution 
tween them and the state of Great Britain Proposed, 
is and ought to be totally dissolved." This resolu- 
tion was discussed on the eighth, postponed until the 
eleventh, and then postponed three weeks, and a com- 
mittee was appointed to prepare a formal declaration 
meantime. 

On the first of July, the resolution came before Con- 
gress again for discussion. The vote was Resolution 
taken on the next day, and twelve colonies Adopted, 
voted in favor. New York did not vote. On the two 
succeeding days, Congress discussed the draft of a decla- 
ration which Jefferson had written for the committee, 
and on the fourth it was adopted by twelve States, 

(For copy of Declaration see Appendix.) 

18 



PAET III. 
STATE GOYEENMENTS. 




CHAPTER XYHI. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

Soon after the formation of French settlements in 
Canada, explorations began about the Early Settlements 
lower lakes, and trading-posts were es- ^" ^^^ Northwest, 
tablished at convenient places . These became the head- 
quarters of fur traders, and at the same time the cen- 
tres of missionary influence among the Indian tribes. 
It was not long before the Jesuit missionaries had ex- 
plored the upper lakes. They selected the spots where 
the Indians gathered in the largest numbers, and in 
1666 established a mission at Sault Ste. Marie, and in 
1671 another at Mackinaw. They also discovered the 
mineral wealth about Lake Superior, and in 1670, at 
Sault Ste. Marie, the governor of Canada, with great 
pomp, formally took possession of the whole country 
about the lakes in the name of the King of France. 

In 1673 Fathers Marquette and Joliet, leaving the 
recently formed mission at Green Bay, crossed to the 
Wisconsin, and sailing down that river discovered the 
Mississippi. On their return they sailed up the Illi- 
nois River, and thence crossed to Lake Michigan. 

Thus the French became acquainted with the whole 
region, and they gradually established fortified posts at 

149 



150 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

important points. Around some of these a few settlers 
gathered, but they were chiefly occupied by soldiers, 
fur traders, and priests. In 1760 prominent posts 
existed at Sandusky in Ohio ; at Vincennes in Indiana ; 
at Kaskaskia in Illinois ; at Green Bay and Prairie du 
Chien in Wisconsin ; at Detroit and Mackinaw in Michi- 
gan. There were besides these a few smaller settle- 
ments at other places. The whole region was subject 
to the French governor of Canada, and was under 
military control. 

In what is known in American history as the French 
Change of Owner- ^^^ Indian War, France and England 
siiip- were contending for supremacy in Ameri- 

ca. The war resulted in the surrender by France 
in 1763 of all its claims in Canada and the Northwest. 
At the close of the Revolutionary war, Great Britain 
gave up the part of this territory south of the great 
lakes to the United States. 

Most of this territory was included in the colonial 
Ordinance of charters or proprietary grants of Massachu- 
^''S''- setts , Connecticut, New York and Virginia. 

Previous to the year 1787, these States ceded their 
jurisdiction, and, with a few exceptions, their title to 
the soil, to the United States. In 1787 the congress of 
the Confederation passed an act for the government of 
the territory included between Pennsylvania and the 
Mississippi river, and between the Ohio river and the 
lakes. 

This act provided for the appointment of a governor, 
a secretary, and three judges, by congress. These offi- 
cers were to select from the laws of the original States 
such as they deemed necessary for the territory, and 



ESTABLISIOIENT OF STATE (?OVEKNMEN*S . 151 

were to publish them, with the approval of congress. 
When the territory contained five thousand free male 
inhabitants of full age, a legislative assembly was to be 
organized, consisting of the governor, a council of five 
appointed by congress, and a house of representatives 
elected by the people. By this act, also, slavery was pro- 
hibited ; religious and personal liberty were guaran- 
teed ; and it was provided that there should be formed 
from the Territory not less than three nor more than 
five States, each of which should be admitted to the 
Union when it contained sixty thousand inhabitants. 

Soon after the passage of the ordinance the officers 
were appointed, and in 1788 the first gov- 
ernor assumed his office at Marietta, where 
the first English settlement had recently been formed. 
From that time the country was rapidly colonized, and 
in 1799 the population had become sufficient to have a 
legislature, which was chosen in that year. In 1802 a 
constitution was formed by a convention chosen for the 
purpose, and in 1803 the State of Ohio was admitted to 
the Union. 

In 1800 the Northwest Territory was divided, and 
the western part was called the Territory 
of Indiana. This was governed by a 
governor, a secretary, and judges, appointed by the Pres- 
ident of the United States. They appointed the local 
officers, and acted as a legislative council. In 1805 the 
Territory was divided, and the Territory of INlichigan 
was established. In the same year the first legislature 
of Indiana met. In 1809 the Territory of Illinois Avas 
formed from the western part. In 1816, the people 
having formed a constitution, Indiana was admitted to 
the Union as a State. 



152 CIVIL GOVERIOOINT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Having been set off from Indiana in 1809, Illinois 
was governed as the other Territories had 
been, until 1818, when it was admitted to 
the Union as a State. 

From 1805 Michigan had the usual form of territorial 
government until 1835, when a constitution 
was formed and a state govenament organ- 
ized. In 1837 the State was admitted to the Union. 
Iowa formed a part of the territory purchased of 
France by the United States in 1803. In 
1834 all of this territory north of Missouri 
was united for government to the Territory of Michigan. 
In 1838 Iowa was made a separate Territory, and in 
1846 it was admitted to the Union as a State. 

In 1836 the Territory of Wisconsin was formed from 

that of Mchisran, and in 1848, the people 
Wisconsin. ^ . _ ^-, -n ^ .. 

having lormed and ratmed a constitution, 

the State was admitted to the Union. 

This State was formed partly from the territory ac- 
quired from France, and partly from the 

Minnesota. ?t i rr^ • * . • i 

JNorthwest Territory. A territorial gov- 
ernment was organized in 1849, and in 1858 the State 
was admitted to the Union. 

BILLS OF RIGHTS. 

The constitution of each State begins with a declara- 
tion of those rights of the people which the instrument 
is intended to secure to them. The most important of 
these are the following : — 

The inherent right of the people to make and alter 
their own form of government ; 

The right to assemble peaceably for discussion, and 
to petition the government ; 



BILLS OF RIGHTS. 153 

Freedom of worship, of speech, and of the press ; 

The right of every person to free, complete, and 
prompt justice, according to law ; 

The right to trial by jury, to the writ of habeas cor- 
jpus, and to be heard and to summon witnesses in self- 
defence ; 

Exemption from unreasonable search and seizure of 
person and eifects, from excessive bail, from cruel and 
unusual punishments, and from martial law. 

Slavery is prohibited, as are also imprisonment for 
debt, bills of attainder, and ex jpost facto^Xsiw^, 

Private property may not be taken for public use 
without just compensation. 

It will be observed that these rights are the same 
that had been asserted by Magna Charta, by the Peti- 
tion of Eight, and by the Bill of Eights signed by 
William and Mary. They were contended for by 
Englishmen for six hundred years, and by the American 
colonists for a century and a half. They were finally 
secured by the war of Independence ; and since that 
each new State has formally declared them in its consti- 
tution. 

1 See pp. 287, 288. i / 

- V 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

In each of the States the legislative department con- 
sists of two branches ; a senate, and a house of repre- 
sentatives, or assembly. Sometimes the whole legisla- 
ture is called the General Assembly. The legislatures 
of the several States differ chiefly in the number and 
qualifications of the members, the ter7n of service, and 
the time of meeting. These diff*erences will appear in 
the following paragraphs, after which those features 
that they have in common will be described. 

OHIO. 

The number of members of each branch of the leg- 
islature is proportioned to the population of the State. 
Every ten years the whole number of people in the 
State is divided by one hundred. The quotient is 
called the ratio of representation. The number of 
representatives for each county is ascertained by the 
dividing the whole population of the county by the 
ratio ; but a county whose population equals half the 
ratio may have one representative ; and a county whose 
population equals once the ratio and three-fourths of the 
ratio more may have two representatives. Fractional 
parts of the ratio entitle a county to a representative 

151 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 155 

for one or more of the next ten years according to the 
size of the fraction. The senatorial ratio is found by 
dividing tlie whole number of people by thirty-five. 
The State is divided into thirty-three districts, and the 
senators are apportioned among these as the represen- 
tatives are among the counties. 

Each member of the legislature must have resided 
in the county or district from which he is chosen for one 
year next preceding his election. The term of office is 
two years. The legislature meets biennially on the 
first Monday in January. 

INDIANA. 

The senate consists of fifty members, and the house 
of representatives of one hundred. Once in six years 
the senators and representatives are distributed among 
the counties in the proportion which the number of 
white male citizens over twenty-one years of age in the 
county bears to the whole number of such persons in 
the State. 

Each member of the legislature must be a citizen of 
the United States, and must have resided in the county 
from which he is elected for two years next preceding 
his election. A senator must have attained twenty-five 
years of age, and a representative twenty-one years. 

The senators are chosen for four years and the rep- 
resentatives for two years. The legislature meets bi- 
ennially on the Thursday next after the first Monday in 
January. 

ILLINOIS. 

Once in ten years the whole number of people in the 
State is divided by fifty-one for a ratio of representa- 



156 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

tion. The legislature then divides the State into fifty- 
one districts, equal in population as nearly as may be. 
In each of these districts the people elect one senator 
and three representatives. In electing representatives 
the voter may cast three votes for one candidate, or 
one for each of three candidates, or divide his three 
votes among the candidates in any way he chooses. 

Each member of the legislature must have been a 
citizen of the United States for ^ve years, and a resi- 
dent of his district for two years, next preceding his 
election. A senator must have attained twenty-five 
years of age, and a representative twenty-one years. 
The senators are chosen for four years, and the repre- 
sentatives for two years. One-half the senators retire 
every two years. 

The legislature meets annually on the Wednesday 
next after the first Monday in January. 

MICHIGAN. 

The senate consists of thirty-two members, and the 
house of representatives of not less than sixty-four nor 
more than one hundred. Once in five years the legis- 
lature divides the State into thirty-two senatorial dis- 
tricts, according to population. At the same time the 
representatives are apportioned among the counties 
according to population. If any county is entitled to 
more than one representative it is divided into districts 
}yy the county supervisors, but no township or city may 
be divided. 

Each member of the legislature must be a citizen of 
the United States, and must, when elected, be a legal 
voter in the county or district from which he is chosen. 
The term of service of senators and representatives is 
two years. The legislature meets biennially on the first 
Wednesday in January. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPAETMENT. 157 

WISCONSIN. 

The constitution declares that the number of meni- 
bers of the assembly shall not be less than fifty-four 
nor more than one hundred, and the number of sena- 
tors not more than one-third nor less than one-fourth 
of the number of representatives. Once in five years 
the legislature divides the State into districts, accord- 
ing to population, from each of which one representa- 
tive is chosen. At the same time the State is divided 
into large districts, from each of which a senator is 
chosen. 

Each member of the legislature must have resided in 
the State one year next preceding his election, and 
must, when chosen, be a legal voter in his district. 
The senators are chosen for two years, one-half retiring 
annually ; the representatives are chosen annually. 
The legislature meets annually on the second Wednes- 
day of January. 

IOWA. 

The senate cannot consist of more than fifty mem- 
bers, nor the house of representatives of more than one 
hundred. Every ten years , a census having been taken , 
the legislature apportions the senators and representa- 
tives among the counties according to their population. 
Counties whose population is too small to entitle tlicni 
to a representative are grouped into districts. 

Each member of the legislature must be a Vhit e 
citizen of the United States, and must have resided in 
the State one year, and m the county or district sixty 
days, next preceding his election. Senators must have 
attained twenty-five years of age, and representatives 



158 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

twenty-one years. Senators are chosen for four years* 
one-half retiring every two years. Representatives are 
chosen for two years. The legislature meets biennially 
on the second Monday in January. 

MINNESOTA. 

The senate consists of forty-one members, and the 
house of representatives of one hundred and six. The 
number is fixed by the legislature. The constitution 
provides that there shall not be more than one senator 
for each ^yg thousand inhabitants, nor more than one 
representative for each two thousand inhabitants. 
Every five years the legislature re-apportions the sen- 
ators and representatives equally, as nearly as may be, 
according to population. 

Every member of the legislature must be a legal 
voter in the State, and must have resided in the State 
one year, and in his district six months, next preceding 
his election. The senators are chosen for two years, 
one-half retiring annually. The representatives are 
chosen for one year. The legislature meets annually 
on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in January. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

The constitutions of all these States prohibit persons 
Limitations upon folding office under the United States, 
Membership. and also those holding lucrative State offi- 
ces, from being members of the legislature. Officers of 
the militia, justices of the peace, and notaries-public 
are not considered as holding lucrative offices. 



GENERAL PROVISIONS. 159 

Each house is the judge of the election and qualifica- 
tion of its own members ; that is, if a privileges of 
question arises between two persons as to ^^'^^ House, 
which is legally elected to either house, the members of 
that house, after proper investigation, decide between 
them, and this decision is final. Each house chooses 
its own officers, except the president of the senate, and 
establishes its own rules of proceeding. It may also 
punish, and, by consent of two-thirds of the members, 
may expel a member. It may punish by a short im- 
prisonment persons, not members, who are guilty of 
disrespect by disorderly conduct, or by attempting to 
bribe the members, or by refusing to testify before 
committees of the house. 

In Indiana and Michigan revenue bills must origi- 
nate in the house of representatives. This provision 
had its origin in England, where such bill must originate 
in the house of commons. In the other States any bill 
may originate in either house. 

The members of the legislature are free from arrest 
except for treason, 1 felony, 2 and breach of Privileges of 
the peace, ^ during the sessions of the legis- Members, 
lature and while going to and returning from the same. 
This provision also had its origin in England, where it 
frequently happened in former times that prominent 
members of parliament were arrested by officers of the 
crown, and thus prevented from acting against the sove- 



1 Treason "consists in levying war against the State, or in adhering to its 
enemies, giving them aid or comfort." 

2 Felony— nsnally any crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the 
State prison or penitentiary. 

3 Breach of the Peace— ''a, violation of the public order." 



160 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

At the opening of the session of the legislature, the 
Oath of Office. members of each house take an oath to sup- 
port the constitution of the United States, and the con- 
stitution of the State, and to perform faithfully the duties 
of the office to which they have been elected. 

The presiding officer of the senate is called the Presi- 
Officers. dent, and is the lieutenant-governor of the 

State. The presiding officer of the lower branch is 
called the Speaker, a term borrowed from the British 
House of Commons. He is chosen by the representatives 
from their own number. The other principal officers 
chosen are a clerk, whose business is to keep the journal 
of the house and to read all bills and communications 
that may come before the house for its action ; and a 
sergeant-at-arms, whose business is to preserve order 
in the house, and to execute its commands. These 
officers are not members of the house, and they usually 
have assistants. 

At the beginning of the session the presiding officer 
of each body ap]Doints certain standing 

Committees. ... ^ , i -x • ^ • i 

committees,^ whose work it is to consider 
the matters presented to either house, and to report what 
action is proper. Besides these there are joint standing 
committees composed of members from both branches. 
There are committees upon finance, education, towns, 
insurance, and many other subjects. Frequently a 
special committee is appointed to consider a matter of 
temporary interest. 

The constitutions require that every measure, in order 
Mode of Making ^^ become a law, shall receive a majority 
Laws. vote in each branch of the legislature, and 

be approved by the governor.^ If he objects, he may 

1 In Wisconsin, the senate elect its committees. 

2 In Ohio, the npproval c>f the governor is not required. 



GENERAL PROVISIONS. 161 

return the bill, with his objections, to the house in which 
it originated. This house must enter his objections in 
full upon its records, and proceed to reconsider the bill. 
K two-thirds^ of this branch vote for the measure, it is 
sent to the other house ; and if this also assent by a 
two-thirds^ vote, the measure becomes a law without 
the approval of the governor. If he does not return 
the bill within a specified number of days, varying from 
three to ten in different States, it becomes a law, unless 
the legislature prevent his returning it by adjourning. 
This power of the governor to withhold his approval 
from any measure is called the veto" power. As he 
cannot really prevent a bill from becoming a law, the 
veto is said to be not absolute, but qualified. 

When the legislature begins its session, subjects for 
legislation are presented to it. in three introduction of 
ways. The governor, in an address to the Business. 
two branches, describes the condition of public affairs, 
and points out in what direction legislative action is 
necessary or desirable. A second mode of introducing 
business is for an individual member to present a resolve 
or bill, which he may do at such time as the rules of 
the house prescribe. A large part of the business 
conies before the legislature in the form of petitions 
from the people. 

To save the time of the house, all these matters, in 
their crude form, are referred to the appro- -^^^^ ^^ p^.^. 
priate committees to be by them considered ceeding. 
and reported on either favorably or otherwise as they 

1 In Indiana, a majority vote of the members elected is required. 

2 rei!o, Latin, I forbid. This was the word by which the Roman tribunes 
refused their assent to a law which they disapproted. It was an absolute 
prohibition. 



162 ciYiL governj^iext in the united states. 

think best. Thus a petition for a change in some school 
law of the State would be referred to the committee 
on education. If a majority of the committee were in 
favor of the change, they would prepare a bill, that is, 
a draft of the proposed law, and report it to one of the 
houses. 

In most of the States the constitution provides that 
every bill shall have three separate readings, no two of 
which shall be on the same day. After a committee 
has reported a bill, opportunity is given for discussion 
and amendment, and then the final vote is taken whether 
the bill shall become a law. This vote is required to 
be a "yea and nay" vote, that is, each member, as his 
name is called by the clerk, is required to respond 
"yes " or " no." After a bill has received a majority^ 
vote in one house, it is sent to the other house, where 
it goes through a similar process. After passing both 
houses it is signed by the presiding officer of each and 
sent to the governor. The details of proceeding are 
regulated by the rules of each house, and by the 
general principles of parliamentary law.^ 

After each session of the legislature, the Secretary of 
Publication of State causes all the laws that have been 
Laws. passed to be bound and preserved. He 

also causes to be printed copies of the general laws, 
and distributes them through the State according to 
law. From time to time the laws are revised, either 
by the legislature, or by a board of men appointed for 

1 In Illinois, a bill must receive tho vote of a majority of all the members elected 
to each house. 

2 Parliamentary Law comprises those general rules which regnlate the con- 
duct of business in legislative assemblies, and in all meetings for deliberative 
action. 



GENERAL PROVISIONS. 163 

the purpose. The whole body of laws as revised is 
then enacted by the legislature like any bill, and pub- 
lished for distribution under the title " Revised Statutes " 
or " Code " or " General Laws." 



ii 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMEI^T. 

In each State the people elect a governor, a lieutenant- 
governor, a secretary, a treasurer, an auditor,^ an attor- 
ney-general, and a supermtendent of public instruction. 
These are the principal executive officers. They are 
usually elected at the same time, and, in most cases, 
hold office for two years. ^ 
The supreme executive power is vested in the gov- 
ernor. The qualifications required by the 
constitutions for this office are as follows : 
in Indiana the governor must have been a citizen of the 
United States and a resident of the State for five years, 
and must have attained thirty years of age ; in Illinois 
he must have been a citizen of the United 
States and of the State for five years, and 
must have attained thirty years of age ; in Michiga n he 
must have been a citizen of the United States for five 
years, and a resident of the State for two years, and 
must have attained thirty years of age ; in Wisconsin he 

1 In Wisconsin the secretary acts as auditor. 

2 In Indiana the governor and lieutenant-governor are chosen for four 
years. In Illinois all but the treasurer are chosen for four years. The 
treasurer is chosen for two years. In Ohio the auditor is chosen for four 
years, and school commissioner for three years. The governor and secretary are 
elected in alternate years. 

164 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPAETMENT. 165 

must be a citizen of the United States and a legal voter 
in the State ; in Iowa he must be a citizen of the United 
States, a resident of the State for two years, and must 
have attained thirty years of age ; in Minnesota he must 
be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the State 
for one year, and must have attained thirty-five years 
of age ; in Ohio no qualifications are stated in the con- 
stitution. 

The governor, upon assuming the duties of his 
office, takes an oath similar to that re- Powers and 
quired of the members of the legislature. Duties. 

1. — The governor is required to give information 
and advice to the legislature upon matters pertaining 
to the interests of the State, and he may call special ses- 
sions of the two houses when, in his judgment, the 
public interests require it. 

2. — He is commander-in-chief of the military forces 
of the State, having full power respecting their instruc- 
tion and discipline. He may call out the troops and 
lead them in case of insurrection and invasion, and may 
order out such jJortions as may be necessary to sup- 
press riots, and to aid in enforcing the laws. 

3. — He has power to pardon offences against the 
State after persons have been convicted of the same. 
This power does not usually extend to cases of im- 
peachment, or of treason. Th-e pardoning powxr in- 
cludes the right to remit a portion of the punishment, 
and to make such conditions and restrictions as are 
deemed best, 

4. — The governor appoints notaries-public,^ and 

1 A notary-public Is an officer empowered to attest legal instruments, to 
administer oaths, and to protest promissory notes and di'afts. 



166 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

members of various boards and commissions when 
authorized to do so by the legislature. 

5. — In general, it is his duty to superintend the 
administration of State business, and to see that the 
laws are executed. 

The lieutenant-governor is required to have the same 
The Lieutenant- qualifications as to citizenship, residence, 
Governor. and age, as the governor, and he is elected 

and sworn at the same time and in the same way. 
He is the presiding officer of the Senate. In case 
the chair of the governor is vacant by reason of 
death, or absence from the State, or otherwise, the 
lieutenant-governor performs the duties of the governor, 
and has all the powers which the constitution confers 
upon that officer. 

The chief duties of the secretary are to keep a record 
Secretary of ^^ ^^^ official acts of the executive and 
State. legislative departments ; to attest the sig- 

nature of the governor on commissions and proclama- 
tions ; to keep the laws of the State and publish them, 
as has been stated ; to receive and keep the returns of 
state and national elections ; to receive and keep re- 
ports of corporations organized under the general laws 
of the State. 

This officer receives all money accruing to the State 
from taxation or otherwise ; keeps all 
reasurer. ^^^^^ ^ bonds , and other securities which are 
the property of the State ; and pays out such sums as the 
auditor draws his warrant for. No money can be drawn 
from the treasury of the State but in consequence of 
some specific appropriation made by the legislature. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT . 167 

It is the duty of the auditor to examine all accounts 
and demands against the State, and to draw 
his warrant upon the treasurer for the pay- 
ment of such as are just. He also superintends the 
collection of dues to the State ; examines the accounts 
of the treasurer ; and reports to the legislature, with 
suggestions, the financial condition of the State. 
Money is paid into the treasury upon a draft drawn by 
the auditor^ in favor of the treasurer ; money is paid 
out of the treasury upon a warrant drawn by the audi- 
tor upon the treasurer. 

The duties of this officer are to prosecute and defend 
in the Supreme Court all actions in which 
the State is a party ; to prosecute and de- 
fend any action when directed to do so by the governor 
or legislature ; to advise and assist the subordinate 
prosecuting officers of the State ; to give legal infor- 
mation and advice, when requested to do so, to the 
legislature, and to any of the executive officers of the 
State. 

Among the duties of this officer are the following : 
to examine into the condition of the public superintendent of 
schools of the State, and report thereon to ^^lic instruction 2 
the legislature ; to attend institutes and other meetings 
of teachers ; to prepare blanks for, and to preserve 
statistics from, the local school officers ; to supervise the 

1 In Michigan and Wisconsin, tlae auditor countersigns all receipts of the treasu- 
rer for money paid to the State. 

2 In Ohio, this officer is styled State Commissioner of Common Schools, 



168 CIYIL GOYEKNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

school funds ; to distribute the school laws and other 
documents for the use of school officers. 

In the administration of public business it is impos- 

Boards and siblc for the governor in J^erSOn to super- 

Commissioners, intend all the departments. Much of the 
work of supervision is entrusted to boards created by 
acts of the legislatm^e, and making annual reports to 
that body. Some of these boards consist of persons 
appointed by the governor or elected by the people 
especially for these duties. Others consist of several 
of the executive officers previously mentioned, to whom 
special duties are assigned in addition to the usual 
work of their departments. These boards have the care 
of the public works of the State, as canals ; of the chari- 
table, reformatory, and penal institutions, as prisons, 
reform schools, and asylums ; of educational institu- 
tions, as universities and normal schools ; of public in- 
dustries, as agriculture and fisheries. Sometimes 
these officers are called commissioners. 

The word " militia " means a body of armed citizens 
trained to military duty, who may be 
called out in certain cases, but may not be 
kept in service, like standing armies, in time of~ peace. 
The Ck)nstitution of the United States forbids any 
State to keep troops in time of peace ; but it allows 
the establishment of a militia. The militia of most 
the States is of tvvo kinds, described as enrolled} and 
active, 

1 In Indiana the militia is distinguished as sedentary and active. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPAKTMENT. 169 

The enrolled militia consists of all able-bodied male 
citizens, 1 resident within the State, of the Enrolled 

age of eighteen years, and under the age Militia, 

of forty-live years, except idiots, lunatics, common 
drunkards, vagabonds, paupers, and convicted crimi- 
nals, and a large number of persons holding office 
under the State and under the United States. Persons 
having certain occupations and professions are exempt- 
ed in some States. Members of some religious socie- 
ties having conscientious scruples against bearing arms, 
are exempt. This enrolled militia is not subject to 
active duty, except in case of war, invasion, or riot. 
Then the governor may order out by draft or otherwise 
such numbers as he considers necessary, and organize 
them according to the laws of the State. 

The active militia is composed of volunteers. In 
case of war, invasion, or riot, and to aid 

. -1 /Yj . 4.- j-T, 1 Ji' Active Militia. 

civil omcers m executing the laws, this 
force is -first ordered into service. Thus in 1861, when 
the President of the United States called for troops to 
suppress the Rebellion, the governors ordered into ser- 
vice at once regiments of the volunteer militia. The 
various volunteer companies are scattered over the 
State, having armories for meeting and drill in the 
cities and larger villages. The companies are gathered 
into regiments, brigades, and divisions. The militia 
is organized and disciplined under United States laws ; 
but it is officered and trained under the laws of the 
State. 

1 In Ohio and Indiana only white males are enrolled. 



170 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

'The governor exercises his power as commander-in- 
chief through various subordinate officers . 
The election or appointment of all mili^ 
tary officers is regulated by law ; but all commissions 
are issued by the governor. 

The State provides such arms and equipments as are 

necessary ; but they remain the property 

Equipments. *^ "^ i i -^ 

of the State, and can be taken away at 

any time. The militia is usually obliged by law to 
spend a prescribed amount of time in drill and camp- 
duty ; for which time compensation is given by the State 
according to law. To preserve the peace, the militia 
may be ordered out by the governor, or, in certain 
cases, by the mayor of a city, a justice, or a sheriff. 

It will be seen that the military force of the State 
is under the direction and control of the governor, and 
is, therefore, a branch of the executive department. 
But, since all appropriations for its support must be 
made by the legislature, it can never become an instru- 
ment of tyranny. Thus the legislative department 
holds a check upon the governor. 



GHAPTEE XXI. 

THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

The judicial department in each State consists of such 
courts of justice as are provided for by the constitution 
or established by the legislature. All the judges are 
elected by the people for limited terms. 

In each State is one Supreme Court, constituted 
as follows. In Ohio it consists of five 
judges elected for five years ; the one 
whose term first expires is chief-justice. In Indiana it 
consists of five judges elected for six years ; the court 
chooses its chief-justice. In Illinois it consists of seven 
judges elected for nine years ; the court chooses its 
chief-justice. In Michigan it consists of four judges" 
elected for eight years ; the one whose term first ex- 
pires is chief-justice. In Wisconsin it consists of a 
chief-justice and two assistant justices elected for six 
years. In Iowa it consists of five judges elected for 
six years ; the one whose term first expires is chief- 
justice. In Minnesota it consists of a chief-justice and 
two assistant justices elected for seven years. 

The business of this court is chiefly to decide ques- 
tions of law that come before it in review or correc- 

171 



172 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

tion of the proceedings of inferior courts. Its terms 
are usually held at the capital of the State. 

The next lower class of courts is that by which the 
Circuit or Dis- largest part of the judicial work of the State 
trict Courts. jg done. In Ohio and Minnesota, they 
are called District Courts ; in the other States they 
are called Circuit Courts. ^ They are constituted as 
follows. In Ohio the State is divided into nine dis- 
tricts, and these are divided into five larger districts. 
In each of the smaller districts from one to five judges 
are elected for five years. These hold what are called 
courts of common pleas. In each of the larger dis- 
tricts is a District Court, consisting of one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court, together with the judges 
of common pleas in the district. In Indiana the State 
is divided into thirty-nine circuits, each having one judge 
elected for six years. In Illinois the State is divided 
into circuits based upon population ; in each circuit a 
judge is elected for six years. IVIichigan is divided 
into twenty circuits, and Wisconsin into twelve circuits, 
each having one judge elected for six years. Iowa is 
divided into thirteen districts and circuits, and Miime- 
sota into twelve districts, each having one judge. 

Two or more terms of these courts are usually held 
in each county annually. The courts have original 
jurisdiction^ in all civil actions where the matter in dis- 
pute exceeds the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, ^ 
and appellate jurisdiction'^ in all civil actions that have 

1 In Iowa, called district and circuit courts. The latter have appellate jurisdiction 
in civil matters, and also take the place of the probate court. 

2 Original jurisdiction, authority to take the first steps in a legal procedure. 

3 In Illinois, in all causes in " law and equity." 

4 Appellate jurisdiction, authority to reconsider, by a new trial, cases that have 
been determined by another court. A demand for such new trial is called an 
appeal. 



THE JUDICIAIi DEPAETMENT. 173 

been tried before the inferior courts. Tliey also have 
original and appellate jurisdiction in all criminal actions, 
except those minor ones over which some of the infe- 
rior courts may have exclusive jurisdiction. 

In Ohio the civil and criminal jurisdiction described 
in the preceding paragraph is exercised court of 
by the Court of Common Pleas, while the Common Pleas. 
district court exercises some appellate jurisdiction in 
civil cases. In Minnesota, cburts of common pleas 
have ])een established in some of the counties having 
concurrent jurisdiction^ with the district courts. 

In each county a Probate Court is established by 
law. It consists of one judge. The Probate 

times and place of holding the court ses- Court, 

sions are fixed by law. These courts have jurisdiction 
of the probate^ of wills, and administration of es- 
tates ;^ of the appointment of guardians to minors 
and others ; and of all matters pertaining to the 
settlement of estates of deceased persons and wards. 
In Winconsin the probate court has also some civil 
jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court. In Illi- 
nois it has both civil and criminal jurisdiction in addi- 



1 ^Concurrent jurisdiction is that which is possessed over the same cause at 
the same time by two different couits. 

2 The prolate of a will is the proof before the proper officer that an instru • 
meut purporting to be the last will and testament of a deceased person is really 
such. The carrying out the provisions of the will is entrusted to a person, or 
persons, named in the instrument as executors. 

3 Administration, the settlement of the estate of a deceased person who 
has left no will. The deceased in such a case is said to have died intestate; 
and an administrator is appointed by the judge of probate, usually on petition. 
If no executor is named in a will, an administrator is appointed. 



174 Civil government in the tjnitei> states. 

tiou to its probate duties. In Iowa there is no distinct 
probate court, its duties being performed by the cir- 
cuit court. 

Courts are established in many of the larger cities 
Municipal ^^^ villages, having jurisdiction of cffen- 

Courts. ces committed in violation of city ordi- 

nances. Most of them also have jurisdiction in civil 
and criminal cases, similar to tliat of justices of the 
peace. These courts usually consist of one judge 
elected by the ]3eople of the city. 

Justices of the peace form a large and important 
Justices of the class of judicial officers. They are elected 
Peace. in each township ; the number, term, and 

jurisdiction being prescribed by law. They have 
authority ta hold courts for the trial of civil suits in- 
volving small sums, and they have criminal jurisdiction 
of such offences as breaches of the peace, petty larceny, 
and, in general, those to which the statutes affijt, as 
penalty, a small fine or a short imprisonment.^ Persons 
not satisfied with the decision of a justice may appeal to a 
higher court. Either party to a civil suit, or the defend- 
ant in a criminal suit, before a justice of the peace, may 
demand a trial by jury.^ The jury usually consists of 
six men. Justices are empowered to issue warrants 
for arrest and summonses for witnesses, and to admin- 
ister oaths. 

Each of the courts that has been described, except 

the justice's, has a clerk, whose duties are 

Clerks of Courts. ^^ attend its sessions, to preserve its 

papers, to keep a record of its proceedings, and to issue 

1 In Indiana, justices may fine, but not imprison. 

2 In Ohio, criminal cases are not tried by a jury in a justice's court. 



THE JUDICIAIi DEPABTMENT. 175 

writs in its name. The clerk of tlie supreme court is 
chosen by the people of the State ; the clerks of the 
lower courts are usually chosen by the people of their 
respective circuits, districts, or counties. 

Connected with the supreme court is an officer called 
a Eeporter, who is appointed by the 
coui-t.-^ He is required to attend court 
personally at all its terms, and to make true reports of 
its decisions, together with the facts involved in the 
cases adjudicated, and to publish these from time to 
time. These published reports contain what has before 
been described as court-law, in distinction from statute- 
law. 

Attorneys-at-law are officers of the courts. They 
are persons employed to manage civil and 
criminal causes for the parties con- 
cerned in them. They are admitted to practice in the 
courts of the State by the supreme court, ^ and are re- 
quired to be persons of good moral character, who have 
had a legal education. They are usually required to 
take an oath to support the constitution of the United 
States and of the State, and to perform faithfully the 
duties of an attorney. 

In each county^ an officer is chosen by the people to 
represent the State in the different courts Prosecuting 

holding terms Avithin the county. His Attorney. 

chief duties are in prosecuting violation of tlie criminal 

1 In Iowa the reporter is elected by the peojile of the State. 

2 In Wisconsin the circuit and probate courts also license attorneys to prac- 
tice belore them. In Minnesota they are admitted by the district court as -vrell 
as by the supreme court. In Indiana, also by the circuit court. 

3 In Indiana a prosecuting attorney is chosen in each judicial circuit and 
district instead of in the counties. In Iowa, also, the attorney is chosen in th« 
judicial district. In such cases they are usually called district attorneys. 



^ Attorneys. 



176 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

laws of the Stute. Such actions are always brought in 
the name of the State. 

A jury is a body of men sworn to declare the facts 
of a case from the evidence and the law 

Juries. ,. , . ^ 

presented to them. The qualihcations oi 
jiu'ors, their duties and privileges, and the manner in 
which they are called to service, are regulated by 
statutes. As these diifer somewhat in the different 
States, each State will be considered by itself. 

In Ohio, a number of persons ordered by the court is 
Jury List and selected annually in each county by the 
Drawing. townsMp trustees. The number from each 

town is determined by the clerk of the common pleas 
court, and the list of names selected are returned to him. 
He writes these names upon slips of paper, which are 
then folded with the name inside and placed in a box 
kept for the purpose. At a specified time before the 
term of the court, he draws from the box, in the pres- 
ence of other officers, as many names as are required 
by law to serve on the grand ^ and petit ^ juries. The 
list of these names is given to the sheriff, who summons 
the persons to be present at the opening of the court. 
A person neglecting to attend, when legally drawn and 
summoned, is liable to a fine. 

In Indiana the county commissioners put into a box 
the names of sixty persons from the different town- 
ships. Before each term of the circuit court the clerk 
draws six names from the box to serve as a grand 
jury. No two of these are from the same town- 
ship, if there are so mam' townships in the county. 
The same person is not required to serve twice in the 

1 See pp. 183, 184. 



THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 177 

same year. For the petit jury, the treasurer and re- 
corder of the county select one hundred names, and 
from these the clerk of the court draws twelve.,^- — '^ 

In Illinois the county board annually prepare a list of 
not less than one-tenth of the legal voters of each town 
and precinct. From this list they select one hundred 
names for each trial term of the circuit court. The 
names are put into a box by the county clerk, and from 
these the clerk of the court draws the required number 
for the petit juries. The grand jury is selected by the 
county board. 

In Michigan the assessors in the county select not 
less than one hundred, nor more than four hundred 
names. These are put into two boxes by the county 
clerk, one-half in each, and from these he draws for the 
grand and petit juries. 

In Wisconsin the county supervisors make an annual 
list of seventy-five grand jurors and one hundred petit 
jurors, or a less number if so ordered by the judge of 
the circuit court. These names are placed in boxes by 
the clerk of the court, and from these he draws for the 
difierent juries. 

In Iowa jury lists are annually made out in each 
county, containing seventy-five names for grand jurors, 
and one hundred and fifty names for petit jurors . These 
names are selected by the judges of election in the dif- 
ferent election districts, and are returned to the county 
auditor. The clerk of the district court, or his deputy, 
places the names in the box and draws for the difierent 
juries as required by law. Grand jurors are drawn for 
the year ; petit jurors for each term of the court. 



178 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In Minnesota the county commissioners annually se- 
lect seventy-two names for grand jurors and the same 
number for petit jurors. From the boxes containing 
these names the clerk of the district court draws for the 
different juries. 

The details of drawing and summoning jurors are es- 
sentially the same in all the States as described in 
Ohio. 



I 



OUTLINE OF JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. 



An illustrative example will serve to show the rela- 
tion of the various branches of the judi- 
ciary department to each other and to the 
public. Every action or suit at law supposes two par- 
ties ; one, called the plaintiff, who brings the charge 
upon which the action is based ; the other, called the 
defendant, against whom the charge is brought. 

Actions are either civil or criminal. A civil 
Classes of action has for its object the restoration of 

Actions. property, the recovery of private rights, 

or compensation for their infraction, or the prevention 
of some wrongful act. Such are suits brought to 
recover a debt, or to obtain money for an injury sus- 
tained upon a highway. A criminal action has lor its 
object the puillshment of an individual for a violation 
of law. In such actions the government is always the 
l)laintiff, usually being represented by an attorney. 
Civil actions, if successful, result in the payment of 
money by the defendant to the plaintiff. Criminal 
actions, if successful, result in the inHiction of a penalty 
upon the defendant ; either a fine paid to the State, or 
imprisonment, or both. 



OUTLINE OF JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. 179 

We will proceed to notice the ordinary steps in the 
conduct of a criminal action. Suppose Criminal 

that in some township or city in the State Actions, 

a man enters a store in the daytime, and steals therefrom 
a watch. In course of the judicial proceedings that 
might arise , the complaint ^ would be first in order. This 
w^ould be a written instrument, stating formally, but 
specifically, the name of the person ac- 
cused, the nature of the crime itself, with 
the time and place of its commission, and requesting 
that he be apprehended for trial. This must be sworn 
to by the complainant before some justice of the peace ; 
and in some States he must ofiJer evidence for his suspi- 
cion against the person accused. This complaint is the 
foundation of the whole course of proceeding. 

The justice next issues a warrant. This is a com- 
mand to the sherifi* of the county, or his 
deputy, or any constable or police officer, 
to apprehend the person named in the complaint, and 
bring him before some justice to answer to the com- 
plaint. The warrant specifies the offence, and, in Illi- 
nois and Michigan, also directs the officer to summon 
certain persons as witnesses against the defendant. 

The officer, having made the arrest, appears before 
the justice with his prisoner, and makes a return of 
his warrant. This is a short statement 
of the manner in which the command has 
been executed. It is written on the back of the instru- 

1 In Indiana and Ohio, instead of a complaint, an affidavit is sworn to before 
a justice stating that a specific crime has been committed by the person named 
therein. In Iowa, an i»/orma<io» is fil«d before the justice. This is similar in 
form to the complaint. 



180 CIVIL GOYEROTHENT IK THE UNITED STATES. 

ment, and signed by the officer. A detailed account of 
charges is also rendered. 

The justice then appoints a time for the examination, 

and the accused may be admitted to hail; 

that is, he may be delivered to persons 
who give security that he shall appear at the specified 
time, to answer to the complaint. These persons are 
said to recognize, or give a recognizance, which is a 
written obligation to pay a certain sum of money if a 
specified condition is not complied with. If the accused 
can find no person willing to become surety for his ap- 
pearance, he is kept in custody. 

Meanwhile, at his request, the justice issues what is 

called a suh;poena to each of such persons 

as the defendant wishes to testify in his 
behalf. If not previously summoned, a subpoena is also 
issued to each of the witnesses for the State. This in- 
strument requires the individual named to appear at a 
certain time and place, to give evidence in the case. 
The names of the plaintiff and defendant are specified. 
At the appointed time, the accused is brought before 

the justice. If the value of the property 

Jurisdiction, j i • i j^i i • j_ 

stolen IS less than a certain amount spe- 
cified by statute, the justice h^s final jurisdictional that 
is, he may, if the crime is proved, pass sentence ; and 
make tlie necessary orders for carrying it into effect. 
If tlie value is greater than the legal limit, the justice 
examines the accused, and, if the evidence is sufficient, 
requires him to give a recognizance to appear before a 

1 In Ohio a justice is empowered to pass sentence only in cases of misde- 
meanor, when the injured parlj makes the complaint, and the defendant pleads 
guilty. In other cases he c^n only examine and hold in recognizance to ap- 
pear before the court of common pleas. 



OUTLINE OF JUDICIAIi PROCEDURE. 181 

higher court for trial. In this case, the justice has only 
initial jurisdiction. 

The parties being in the presence of the justice, the 
arraignment takes place. The defendant 
rises ; the justice reads to him the com- 
plaint, and asks him what he says to it, — " Guilty," or 
"Not guilty." His answer is the plea. 
If he pleads " Guilty," sentence may be 
passed at once. If he pleads "Not guilty," evidence is 
then presented tending to prove his guilt. 

The witnesses for the government are called, and 

standing, and raisino^ their rioht hands, 

^ ^ ^ Testimony, 

swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, 

and nothing but the truth. ^ They are then called sepa- 
rately ; and each tells what he knows of the case. He 
is examined first by the justice, or by the attorney for 
the State, if such an officer is employed, and then cross- 
examined, as it is called, by the counsel for the defend- 
ant. The purpose of the cross-examination is to destroy 
the effect of the testimony by involving the witness in 
contradictions, or by showing his incapacity, or by show- 
ing him to be mistaken. After all the evidence is pre- 
sented against the party, the witnesses for the defence 
are called and svv^orn^ and examined separately, first by 
the defendant's counsel, then by the justice or attorne3^ 
When all the evidence upon both sides has been 
heard, the counsel for the defendant pro- Arguments of 
ceeds to make an argument in his favor Counsel. 
based upon the evidence adduced. A counter-argu- 
ment is made by the attorney for the State. ^ In Min- 

1 In some States each witness ie sworn as he is called to testify. 
2* Sometimes the State's attorney makes the opening argument, and afterward 
replies to the argument of the defeudaut. 



182 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

nesota the counsel for the defendant has the last argu- 
ment. These arguments are frequently, but improperly, 
called pleas. 

The justice, having heard the evidence and the argu- 
ments, considers the case, and passes judg- 
ment upon it. He declares the defendant 
guilty, and pronounces the sentence ; or not guilty, and 
releases him. 

After arraignment, any person has a right to demand 
a trial by jury.^ When this demand is 
made, the justice directs a constable to 
summon the required number of jurors. The trial 
then proceeds as above. The jury decide upon the 
guilt of the person, and the justice gives judgment ac- 
cordingly. 

The penalty may be a fine and costs. The statutes 
determine the limit of the fine, and regu- 
late the charges which are included under 
the title "costs." These are, the fees of the justice, 
unless he has a salary, of the officer for serving the 
warrant and subpoenas, of the witnesses, and sometimes 
of the attorney for the State. 

In case the fine and costs are not paid, the convicted 

man may be committed to jail until they 

Commitment. ^^^ paid, or imtil he is released by due 

process of law. 

This would end the proceedings in a justice's or po- 
lice court ; but, if the defendant is not 
'^^^®^^' satisfied with the decision, he may appeal 

to a higher court. In this case, he is required to bring 
sureties, who give their recognizance for him to appear 
before the higher court to prosecute his appeal. This 

1 See p. 180, note 1. 



OUTLINE OF JUDICIAL PROCEDURE » 183 

would secure him a new trial by a jury. TJie features 
of a jury trial will now be presented. 

In the case that has been considered, if the crime 
had been beyond the iurisdiction of the 

. ,. ^ ,, ., Examination. 

justice, an exammation ot the witnesses 
would have taken place. If the justice thought there 
was sufficient evidence of guilt, he would require the 
accused to furnish bail for his appearance at the next 
term of the higher court ; or, if he could not find bail, 
would commit him to jail meanwhile. The justice 
would then send the complaint or affidavit, with a 
record of the proceedings thereon, to the prosecuting 
attorney for the county or district, or to the clerk of 
the higher court. 

Previous to the beginning of a criminal term of the 
circuit and district court, the persons 
who have been drawn for the purpose, 
present themselves before the judges who are to hold 
the court, and take an oath, dihgently, and without 
malice, fear, or favor, to inquire into such cases as may 
be brought before them. This body is the Grand 
Juryi. The court gives them directions as to their 
duties. The members choose a foreman and a clerk. 

The prosecuting attorney prepares a formal accusa- 
tion against the person whom we have sup- 
posed under recognizance to appear at the 
higher court,^ and against such other persons as he has 

1 Tho number of members of the grand jury varies in the different States. In 
Illinois and Minnesota, the number is twenty-three; in Ohio, eighteen; in Iowa, 
fifteen ; in Indiana, six ; in Michigan, not less than sixteen. In Wisconsin, the grand 
jury has been abolished. 

2 In Illinois, the grand jury first hears the witnesses, and then, If it so decides, 
directs the attorney to indict. 



184 CIVIL governjment m the united states. 

reason to think are guilty of crime. This instrument is 
called an indictment, and specifies the name of the de- 
fendant, and the crime with which he is charged. Wit- 
nesses in support of the charge are sworn and heard, hut 
none for the defence. If twelve^ of the jury agree that 
the person should be brought to trial, the foreman in- 
dorses upon the indictment the words, " A true bill," and 
signs it. If the jury think there is not sufficient ground 
for the accusation, the indictment is spoken of as not 
found, or 7iot a true hill. The indictment forms the basis 
of action in the higher court, as the complaint or 
affidavit does in the lower court. 

When the time arrives for the trial, a list of twelve 

jurors is read by the clerk. Exception 
Challenge. J J i 

may be taken to any of these by the 

accused or by the prosecuting attorney, on the ground 
of character, incompetency, or prejudice. This objec- 
tion is called a challenge. The accused may challenge 
a prescribed number of jurors peremptorilr/ ; that is, 
without assigning cause. In most States the number 
varies with the gravity of the ofi'ense. Other names 
are substituted, until the number twelve is complete. 
Each member then swears that he will well and truly 
try the issue between the State, or people, and the de- 
fendant, according to the law and the evidence. This 
body is -called ajpetit jury or a t7Hal jury. Its business 
is to hear the evidence, and then decide whether the 
accused is guilty, or not, of the crime specified in the 
indictment. 

The steps in the trial are similar to those in the lower 
court, — the arraignment, the plea, the testimony, the 

1 In Indiana, five of the six jurors must agree to find an indictment. 



OUTLINE OF JUDICIAL PEOCEDURE. 185 

arguments. After the case has been presented to the 

jury by the attorneys, the judge makes his 

charge to the jury, in which he exphiins 

the law bearing upon the case, and indicates to them 

the principles that should guide them in making their 

decision. 

The jury then retire, in charge of the sheriff, for con- 
sultation. They are kept by themselves 
until they make up their opinion. If they 
are unanimous in that opinion, they return to the court- 
room, where the foreman announces the verdict ; which 
must be, ''Guilty," or ''Not Guilty." If the jury 
cannot agree, they may be discharged ; in which case 
a new trial would be necessary. If the verdict is 
«' Guilty," the court pronounces the sentence which the 
law requires. 

If the penalty is imprisonment, the person is com- 
mitted to the sheriff to be lodged in the 
designated place of confinement ; if a fine, 
legal steps are taken to secure payment. 

The case may not end here. During the trial, objec- 
tions may have been made to the admis- 

Exceptions. 
sion of certain evidence. The judge has 

ruled that it may be admitted. The counsel takes ex- 
ceptions to the ruling of the judge. If the judge 
allows the exceptions, they are properly framed, and go 
to the Supreme Court ; where arguments are made by 
the counsel on both sides. If the court sustains the 
ruling of the judge, the case is remanded to the trial 
coui-t for sentence. If the ruling is not sustained, a 
new trial is had at some future term of the trial court. 



x. 



186 CIVTIi GOVERNIMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

There is more diversity in procedure in civil than in 
criminal actions. A simple case may serve 

Civil Actions. . , 

to illustrate the chief points of difference 
between them. Suppose a man has sold merchandise 
to the value of a hundred dollars, for which he has 
received no pay. He purposes to sue before a justice 
for the recovery of the debt. The first step is to obtain 
a summons. This is done in various 
ways. In Indiana, the plaintiff files Avith 
the justice a written demand called a complaint; 
in Ohio, the plaintiff files a petition containing his de- 
mand ; in Illinois, the plaintiff files an order for a writ ; 
in Michigan and Wisconsin, the plaintiff states the par- 
ticulars of his demand. The summons is an order to 
a sheriff or other officer, directing him to summon the 
debtor to appear before the justice at a certain time 
and place, to answer to the demand of the plaintiff.^ 
Under certain circumstances the plaintiff may obtain, 
either at the same time with the summons or afterward, 
another writ called an attachment. This 
directs the officer to attach the property 
of the debtor to a specified amount, and to summon 
the party to appear, as before. The officer, in obe- 
dience to this writ, takes possession of the property, 
and holds it in custody until judgment upon the case 
has been rendered by the court. Sometimes another 
writ is obtained directing the arrest of the party. Each 
writ specifies the day on which it shall be returned ; and 
this return is made, as in the case of the warrant, 
by an indorsement by the officer, stating what he has 
done. 

1 In Iowa, the siunmons is called a notice. 



OUTLINE or JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. 187 

The next step in the process is the jpleading.'^ This 
is a formal and legal statement of the 
facts which constitute the plaintiff's cause 
of action, followed by a similar statement of the facts 
which constitute the defendant's ground of defence. 
Thus the plaintiff may declare the time and mode of 
the sale, and the quality and amount and value of the 
goods. The defendant may deny the purchase, or 
assert that payment has been made in whole or in part, 
or on some other ground plead against the obligation. 
If a formal complaint or petition has been filed, this 
constitutes the plaintiff's plea. The defendant's plea is 
called an answer. 

When some fact is asserted by one party, and denied 
by the other, an issue is thereby made, 
and the trial begins. The witnesses for the 
plaintiff are called and sworn, and give their testimony ; 
then those for the defendant. The arguments follow, 
and then the judgment. Either party may demand a 
trial by jury. The jury consists of six^ men, who 
decide the question at issue. If the justice or jury 
decide for the plaintiff, and the debt is not paid, a writ 
of execution is issued. 

This directs the officer to take of the property of the 
defendant, and obtain such sums as are 
necessary to satisfy the judgment. This is 
usually done by sale by auction. If the sale produces 
more than the amount of the judgment, the balance is 
paid to the owner. As in criminal actions, appeal may 
be taken to a higher court, where the steps would be 
similar to those in the justice's court. 

1 In Illinois, there are usually no pleadings before a justice of the peace. 

2 In Indiana and Minnesota, of twelve, but a less number may bo substituted. 



188 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN" THE UNITED STATES. 



IMPE ACH]>IENT , 

In the constitutions of all the States, provision is 

made for removal from public offices bv a 
Definition. i, t . , rr^i . , 

process called, impeachment. This may be 

defined as a written accusation against a civil officer, 
made in a constitutional way, for maleadministration of 
office. Any of the State officers may be impeached.^ 
Impeachments can only be brought by the house of 
representatives ; and they are tried by the 
senate. It an oincer is supposed gmlty 
of wrong-doing in connection with his office, the repre- 
sentatives may appoint a committee to investigate. 
This committee may report in favor of impeachment. 
If a majority of the representatives elected so decide, 
a committee is appointed to prepare articles of im]3each- 
ment, and present them to the senate. These articles 
correspond to the indictment in a criminal proceeding. 
The articles having been presented, the person is 
summoned to appear and answer to the 
charges. Each senator takes an oath ap- 
propriate to the occasion, and the trial is conducted 
according to the usual procedure in other courts. A 
vote of two-thirds of the senators present is required 
for conviction. 

Judgment, in case of conviction, may extend to re- 
moval from office, and disqualification to 
hold any office of trust, honor, or profit 
under the State. ^ The person is also liable to trial and 
punishment for the crime before the proper courts, in 
accordance with the laws of the State. 

1 In Minnesota, the governor, secretary, treasurer, auditor, attorney-general 
and the judges of the supreme and district courts may be impeached. 

2 la Michigan, judgment can only extend to removal from office. 




CHAPTER XXn. 

V 

COUNTIES. 

As early as the time of the Saxons, England was 

divided into districts for convenience in 

. . rjM History of. 

the administration of justice. The most 
important of these was the shire, as it was called, from 
a Saxon word meaning to cut. The shire was a part 
cut off. In Norman times, the shire took the name 
county, from the word count, a Norman title of nobility. 
The English colonies in America early set up the county 
organization, with the usual officers, and as soon as the 
northwest territory came under English jurisdiction, 
comities were instituted with essentially the same pow- 
ers and officers as they had in the older States and in 
England. 

A county may be defined as a portion of the State, 
organized as a corporate body' under the 
direction of the State, for convenience in ^ ^*^°°' 

1 A corporate body, or corporation, is a body consistiag of one or more indi- 
viduals, established by law, usually for some specific purpose, and continued 
by a succession of members. This body has a name, and under that name 
may sue and be sued, may hold and dispose of property, may have a comiuou 
seal, may choose officers, and make by-laws for its grovernment and adminis- 
tration. The body may be created by a special law called a charter; or it may 
organize under some general statute. 

In Ohio, the county is not a corporation, but the county commissioners may 
sue and be sued. In Indiana, the commissioners, and not the county, form the 
corporation. 

ISO 



190 CIVrL GOTERNTVIENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the administration of justice, and to transact business 
of local interest. 

Each county is obliged to own and maintain suitable 

court-houses, jails, and buildings for the 

oper y. registry and preservation of deeds, wills 

and court records. The town in which these buildings 

are situated and where the courts are held, is called the. 

county-seat. 

Counties, as such, have no legislative power ; hence 
their officers are chiefly executive and ju- 
dicial. The number and duty of these 
officers are prescribed by law, and are the same through- 
out the State. 

In each county three Commissioners ^ are chosen by 

the people. These officers are empowered 
County . . 1 ^ .. -, . . ^, 

Commissioners, to provide lor erecting and repairmg the 

or Supervisors, county buildings ; to have the care of the 
county propei-ty ; to represent the county in suits at 
law ; to lay out, alter and disconthiue highways within 
the county, upon petition of parties interested, and 
after a suitable hearing. They also have extensive 
powers connected with the formation of new townships, 
with the alteration of boundaries and change of name 
of those already existing, and with county and town- 
ship taxation. 

The county treasurer receives and pays out, in the 

manner prescribed by law, all money be- 

Treasurer. longing to the county. This includes that 

1 In Michigan and Wisconsin, instead of the usual board of commissioners, 
each county has a board of supervisors, consisting of one ijerson from each of 
the local boarJs of supervisors. The same is true of a part of the counties cf 
Illinois. In Iowa, there ia a board of three, five, or seven supervisors. All these 
boards have essentially the same powers and duties as the county commisBioners. 
In Minnesota, the uumber of commissioners is usually five. 



COUNTIES. 191 

raised by taxation and whatever comes from the pay- 
ment of fines in the various courts. Taxes for the sup- 
port of the State government are also received by this 
officer, and by him paid to the State. 

In Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota, a county 
Auditor is chosen, who is clerk of the 
county commissioners, and who, among ^ ^ °^' 

other duties, keeps an account with the treasurer of the 
receipts and expenditures of the county, and draws 
warrants for the payment of money from the treasury 
upon the order of the commissioners. He also has im- 
portant duties connected with the assessment and col- 
lection of taxes. 

In each county there is a Recorder or Register of Deeds. 
The duties of this officer are to receive and record, 
accordinfic to methods prescribed by law, 

n J J ^ ^ ^1. 4.1. I Recorder,! 

all deeds, mortgages and other papers that or Register 
maybe brought to him for the purpose. of Deeds. 
In the early history of the county, all transfers of land 
were made publicly at the county courts to prevent 
fraud. The registry is designed to serve the same pur- 
pose, by making all such transfers a matter of record, 
so that the legal title to any land in the county may be 
readily ascertained. 

The oldest and most important county officer is the 
Sheriff. In the early history of the county, 
this officer, called the shire-reeve, shared ^' ' 

the administration of county business with the alder- 
man and bishop. Later, the civil functions devolved 

1 In niinois, the clerk of the circuit court is the Eecorder. In Iowa, the 
county treasurer may be recorder in counties having a population less than 
ten thousand. In Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, this officer is called 
Register of Deeds. 



192 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

entirely upon him. He presided at the county court, 
and was responsible for the public peace. Formerly, 
in England, he was elected by the people ; now he is 
appointed by the king for one year, and during that 
time is the highest personage in the county, taking pre- 
cedence of noblemen. 

The sheriff's first duty is to preserve the peace 
within his county. To this end he may 

1. Preserving apprehend and commit to prison all per- 
^®**^®* sons who break the peace. He is bound 
to pursue and take all such criminals as murderers, 
robbers and rioters. He has the safe-keeping of the 
county jail, and is responsible for the custody of the 
prisoners confined therein. In the exercise of these 
duties, the sheriff may demand the assistance of the 
inhabitants of the county. Any person who refuses 
aid when thus called upon is liable to fine and impris- 
onment. 

The sheriff is required to attend all county courts. 

2. Attending During the term of the court, he has 
Courts. charge of the prisoners on trial, of the 
witnesses, and of the juries. It is his business to see 
that the sentence of the court is carried into execu- 
tion, either by collecting the fines, placing the convicted 
person in the designated place of confinement, or car- 
rying out the death sentence for capital crimes. 

The sheriff is required to serve all writs and pro- 

3. Serving ccsses that may be lawfully issued to him 
Processes. within his county by any of the courts of 
justice. To assist in the performance of these various 
duties, the sheriff appoints deputies, for whose action 
he is responsible. 



COUNTIES. 193 

Another ancient officer is the Coroner. He performs 
the duties of the sheriff in the absence or 

Coroner. 

incapacity of that officer, and when the 
sheriff is one of the parties in a suit. His chief duty is 
to hold an inquest/ with the assistance of a jury, over 
the body of any person who may have died from vio- 
lence or accident.^ The jury consists of six^ men sum- 
moned by a constable, in obedience to a warrant from 
the coroner. The object of the inquest is stated on 
page 32. 

An officer called Surveyor is chosen to make surveys 
of any lands in the county, when applied 

^ , , . . T Surveyor. 

to for the purpose by parties interested, or 

by any of the courts. A record of these surveys is 

kept by the surveyor. 

In most of the States, a Superintendent of Schools is 
chosen in each county. The duties of this officer are 
to examine candidates for teachers in the Superintendent 
public schools, and to grant licenses or cer- o^ Schools. 4= 
tificates to such as are qualified ; to visit the schools of 
the county, and to report thereon to the State superin- 
tendent. In IMinnesota and Indiana, this officer is 
appointed by the county commissioners ; in the other 
States in which the office exists, he is elected by the 
people of the county. 

1 In Wisccnein, such inquests are held hy justices of the peace, and not by 
the coroner. 

2 In Minnesota, cases of death by accident are not subject to a coroner's in- 
quest. 

3 In Iowa, the jury consists of three men. 

4 In Ohio, instead of the auperintendent, each county has a board of school 
examiners, by whom ezaminations of teachers are conducted, and certificates 
granted. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 

In the Saxon period of English history, the freemen 
were grouped into httle bodies of ten 
householders each, called titJtings; and 
these were again united into organizations called Jiun- 
dreds. The next larger group was the county. These 
smaller divisions were for the more perfect administra- 
tion of justice, each body being responsible for its mem- 
bers. If a person had committed a crime, his tithing 
was bound to produce him to the court ; or, failing to 
do so, was required to pay a specified sum of money. 
The efiect of this system was to throw the burden of 
local administration directly upon the people of the 
district. Each body had interests peculiar to itself; 
and, to promote these, there must be free discussion and 
choice of individuals to represent them. After the 
introduction of the feudal system, these smaller institu- 
tions fell into disuse ; but, in the towns, the idea of 
local self-government was retained, and was brought to 
this country by the early settlers of New England. 
The people, settling together in different localities, 
formed distinct communities, called plan- 
tations, and, from the beginning, were in 
the habit of meeting to consider matters of common 

194 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 195 

interest. Yery early, the magistrates came to recog- 
nize these commmiities as such, defiued carefully the 
boundaries of land which each should occupy, and, to 
each community occupying such portion of territory, 
gave a name. The legislature, from time to time, gave 
permission to form new settlements, fixing the boun- 
daries, and giving a name. 

The charters gave all power of government to the 
legislatures ; but those bodies early sane- Growth of 

tioned a practice which had grown up in Powers, 

the towns, of managing their own local afiairs through 
men chosen for this purpose, called selectmen. From 
time to time, the towns were empowered to choose 
other municipal officers, and gradually came to have 
those powers and duties which are now defined by the 
general statutes ; but the supreme jurisdiction remained 
with the legislatures, which have always considered the 
towns as corporations, and prescribed the mode in which 
they should perform their functions. It is through the 
town governments that the State brings its authority 
directly to bear upon the people. Its taxes are received 
by the town collector, its writs of election and of judi- 
cial process served by town constables, and its school- 
laws executed by town committee-men. 

This township system l^as essentially the same in all 
the New England colonies. Its influence 
has been great. The grouping of the 
people in towns afibrded opportunity for frequent in- 
tercourse and exchange of opinion. It made it possible 
to support regular services of public worship, and to 
establish and maintain public schools. The frequent 
meetings of the freemen of the towns gave to all an 



196 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

opportunity to become acquainted with the conduct of 
public aifairs, and cultivated a spirit of independence 
in thought and action. In them every man, without 
distinction, was free to make the best use of all his tal- 
ents, and so they were the schools in which the men 
were trained who were foremost in discussing the great 
questions that preceded the Kevolution. At the same 
time, the whole body of the people were prepared to 
judge and act upon these subjects when the occasion 
came. Similar influences have been exerted by these 
organizations to the present time. 

TOWNSHIPS. 

The word township has two meanings. The public 
lands of the United States are laid out in tracts six 
miles square, called townships. These are commonly 
distinguished as congressional townships. 

The civil township^ is one of the subdivisions of the 
county, laid out by the county board, and incorporated 
under the general laws of the State. ^ 

The powers of a township are defined by the general 
laws of the State. They are as follows : 

P0W6TS 

to sue and be sued ; to hold and dispose of 
real and personal property for the public use of the 
inhabitants ; to make such contracts and orders as are 
necessary for the exercise of its corporate powers ; to 
make such by-laws as are necessary for managing its 
afiairs, and for preserving peace and good order; to 
raise money by taxation. 

Every township is required by law to hold an annuaP 

1 In Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the word town is used in this sense, 
instead of township. 
a In Iowa, the township is not a corporate hody. 
3 In Indiana, biennial. 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 197 

meeting on a day fixed by statute, usually in March 

or April. At this time the officers are 

chosen, and the most important business 

is done. Special meetings are held at such times as 

the trustees or supervisors order. 

The chief duties of the township Clerk are to record 
all votes passed at the meetings of the 
township ; to keep a record of the doings 
of the board of supervisors or trustees ; to preserve 
the records and other books of the town ; to record the 
number of votes and the names of persons voted for at 
elections of State, county and township officers, and to 
make the necessary returns.^ 

Three chief executive officers are chosen in each town- 
ship , except in Indiana and Michigan, where supervisors, or 
but one is chosen. They are called Trustees Trustees. 
in Ohio, Indiana and Iowa, and Supervisors in the other 
States. These officers have the general charge of the 
business of the township. The following are some of 
the more important of their duties : to purchase and 
have the care of township property ; to settle chums 
against the township ; to levy taxes for township pur- 
poses ; to lay out roads within the township ; to divide 
the township into road districts ; to preside at elec- 
tions ; to represent the .township in its relations to the 
county and State and in suits at law ; to act as a board 
of health, and in most of the States as overseers of the 
poor and as fence viewers. 

One or more assessors of taxes are chosen in each 
township. These officers are required to 
take oath to perform their duties impar- ^ ^^°' * 

tially. The statutes prescribe minutely what property 
is liable to taxation, and the mode of apportionment. 

1 In Minneflota, election returns are not made by the town clerks 



198 CIVIL GOVERNIVIENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The 2^i'operty subject to taxation includes all lands 
Taxable ^^^^ buildings within the State ; goods, 

Property. chattels and money ; money at interest ; 

debts due the person more than his own indebtedness ; 
stocks and bonds of banking, manufacturing, and other 
corporations. * 

Some property in the State is exempted from taxa^ 
tion. This includes the property of the 
Exempted United States, of the State, and of the 

from Taxation. counties, town ships and cities; the prop- 
erty of literary and charitable institutions ; of schools 
and other educational institutions ; of religious socie- 
ties ; of scientific and agricultural societies ; public 
libraries ; burial grounds. In general, if any part of 
such property is used for other purposes than for the 
immediate use of the societies or corporations owning 
it, such part is subject to taxation. 

Beside the property above enumerated, a certain por- 
tion of the property of private individuals is usually 
exempt. This exemption is as follows : — 

In Ohio, the personal property of each individual, 
not exceeding fifty dollars in value. 

In Indiana, five hundred dollars' worth of the prop- 
erty of widows, of unmarried females, and of female 
minors whose fathers are deceased, if their property not 
exempted does not exceed one thousand dollars in 
value. 

In Michigan, two hundred and fifty dollars' worth of 
household furniture ; fifty dollars' worth of spinning 
and weaving looms and apparatus ; clothing of indi- 
vidual and family ; one hundred and fifty dollars' worth 
of library books ; school-books ; family pictures ; fifteen 



TOAVNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 199 

sliccp to each householder, with then* fleeces, and the 
yarn and cloth made therefrom ; two cows, five swine ; 
food and fuel for the family for six months ; one hun- 
dred dollars' worth of musical instruments. 

In Wisconsin, the personal property of each indi- 
vidual, not exceeding two hundred dollars in value. 

In Iowa, farmers' utensils, mechanics' tools, and pri- 
vate hbraries, not exceeding three hundred dollars in 
value; family pictures; kitchen furniture, beds and 
bedding, wearing apparel and food ; farm produce of 
the previous year. 

In Minnesota, the personal property of each indi- 
vidual, not exceeding one hundred dollars in value. 

Usually the assessors are allowed to exempt the 
property of such persons as, by reason of age or infirmity, 
they judge unable to contribute fully to the public 
charges. 

It is the duty of each assessor annually to make a 
complete classified list of all the property Listing of 

in his district subject to taxation, with the Property, 

value thereof and the name and residence of the own- 
ers. In order that he may do this, he may require each 
person to furnish him with a complete list of his prop- 
erty, and may also require him to make oath that the 
list is true. 

In each township certain officers are constituted by .^ 
law a Board of Equalization. This board Boards of 
examines the property list as made out by Equalization. 
the assessor, and may add to the valuation of any 
property or deduct from it, in order to equalize the 
burden of taxation as nearly as may bo. Persons 
aggrieved by the action of the assessor may be heard 



200 CIVIL GOVERNMEin: IN THE UNITED STATES* 

by this board. In each county there is a county board 
of equalization, whose duties are to review the lists as 
they come from the different assessors, and to equalize 
the taxation throughout the county. There is also a 
State board, which receives the lists of taxable property 
from the county officers, and revises the valuation in 
order to equaUze taxation throughout the State. The 
revised lists are finally returned to the coimty auditor. 

The proper officers of the State certify to the auditor 
Apportionment ^^^ ^^^^ county the amount of money to be 
of Taxes. raised in that county as its share of the State 

tax, or the rate of taxation for State purposes. The 
county and township officers certify to the auditor the 
amounts needed for their respective districts. If*the 
schools and highways are supported by separate taxes, 
the proper officers certify to the auditor the amount to be 
raised for these purposes. Knowing the whole amount 
of money to be raised, the auditor * proceeds to deter- 
mine the rate of taxation for each purpose, and then 
apportions the tax to the property already listed. The 
rate that can be levied for each purpose is usually lim- 
ited by law. 

1 In Illinois, instead of the auditor, the county clerk receives the property 
lists from the towns, and apportions the various taxes to the persons liable 
therefor. The taxes are collected by town collectors, and by them paid to the 
proper authorities of the town, county and State. In counties not organized 
into towns there is a county assessor, and the taxes are collected by the sheriff. 

In Michigan, the township supervisor acts as assessor. The county clerk 
ascertains, from the proper officers, the amount to be raised for State, county 
and township purposes, and certifies to each township supervisor the amount 
to be raised in his district. The supervisor then apportions the various taxes 
upon the property listed, and they are collected by the township treasurer. 

In Wisconsin, the town clerk apportions the various taxes upon the property 
listed, after being notified of the amount to be raised for State, county and 
township purposes. Taxes are collected by the town treasurer. 

In Iowa, the taxes may be collected by township collectors if the county 
supervisors order the election of such ofia.cers. 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 201 

The complete tax list contains a description of all the 
items of property taxed, with the amount Collection of 
due from each for State, county and town- Taxes. 
ship purposes, and the name of the person liable there- 
for. This list is given to the county treasurer, who 
collects the taxes according to law.^ If a tax is not 
paid within a specified time, the treasurer may take the 
property, or such portion of it as he deems necessary, 
and, after public notice, may sell it at public sale, 
refunding to the owner whatever is received above the 
tax and cost of collection. Real estate, sold for the 
payment of taxes thereon, may be redeemed under cer- 
tain specified conditions. The treasurer pays to the 
proper officers of the State and township their part of 
the tax collected. 

In townships where a Treasurer is chosen, his duties 
are to receive and take charge of all sums 
of money belonging to the township, and 
to pay out the same to the order of the proper officers. 

One or more Constables are chosen in each township. 
They hold the same relation to the justice's 
court that the sheriflf does to the county 
court, being empowered to serve writs and other legal 
processes specified by law. They also serve notices 
issued to them by the township trustees or supervisors. 

Each township is divided into districts for the main- 
tenance of roads and bridges. The town- 

1 . . , , T, -, Highway Officers. 

ship supervisors or trustees usually lay 

out the districts,^ and determine the amount of money 

1 See note on page 200. 

2 In Indiana and Illinois, the trustee or supervisor acts as treasurer. In 
Iowa, the township clerk performs the duties. 

3 In Michigan, a Commissioner of Highways is chosen in each township, 
Who lays out the districts and superintends the oyerseers in the performance 
of their duties. 



202 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

to be spent in each. The expenditure of the money is 
entrusted to officers called supervisors or overseers of 
highways, one of whom is usually chosen in each dis- 
trict. It is their duty to keep the roads in repair, to 
remove obstructions, and to exact the amount of labor 
required by law from persons in their districts. 

Every township is under obligation to provide for the 

support of those indiofent poor who have 
Care of Poor. . -, -, . .? , . r^, 

acquired a legal residence therein. The 

statutes of each State declare what constitutes a legal 

residence. Persons needing relief, but having no legal 

residence in any township, are supported by the county. 

Hence arises a distinction between county poor and 

township poor. 

The township trustees or supervisors are empowered 
by law to act as overseers of the poor. It is their duty 
to provide relief when needed ; to ascertain the legal 
residence of the persons aided, and to take measures to 
have the expense borne by the township or county lia- 
ble therefor. In most counties a poor-house is erected 
by the county commissioners. Here the county poor are 
cared for, and, in many cases, the township poor are 
also sent thither, the cost of their maintenance being 
borne by the township. In other cases, the overseers 
make annual contracts with private individuals to sup- 
port the poor of the township. 

In most of the States the counties may abolish the 
distinction between county and township poor, and may 
support all paupers at the county poor-house, assessing 
the expense upon the townships. In Minnesota, the 
poor are cared for wholly by the county officers. The 
county poor-house is in the care of the county commis- 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 203 

sioners, or of a board of overseers appointed by them/ 
The keeper and other officers are appointed by this 
board. 

The general supervision of schools is entrusted to a 
board of officers representino^ the whole „ , , ^_ 

^ , . School Officers. 

township. Besides these, there is a local 
board chosen by the voters of the districts into which 
the township is divided. The functions of the township 
board are to establish schools ; to divide the township 
into districts, and apportion the children among them ; to 
make rules and regulations for the management of the 
schools ; to receive and pay out the money accruing to 
the township from the school fund of the State. In 
some of the States the title to all school property is 
vested in the township board. In Ohio, this board is 
called a board of education. In Indiana and Illinois, 
it consists of persons called trustees. In Michigan, 
there is an Inspector of Schools, who forms the districts, 
but has quite limited powers. In Iowa, there is a 
township lx)ard of directors. In Minnesota, and in 
most townships of Wisconsin there is no township 
board, but each school district chooses a board of trus- 
tees, consisting of a director, treasurer and clerk. 
This board has full power to maintain schools and to 
provide for their support and supervision. 

Each township is divided into smaller districts, which 
choose their own officers, usually called directors. The 
directors have the care of the school buildincrs and 
property, and of necessary repairs. They make the 

1 In Ohio, they are called Directors, and are chosen by the people. 



204 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

annual enumeration of children, as required by law, 
upon which the apportionment of the school fund is 
based. They visit the schools to inspect them, and have 
power to admit and expel pupils. They usually con- 
tract with the teachers and determine what text-books 
shall be used. In the performance of most of these 
duties they are subject to the direction and control of 
the township school officers. 

One- of the duties of the supervisors or trustees is to 
act as Fence Viewers to settle disputes be- 

Fence Viewers. ^ ,. . . 

tween the owners of adjommg estates re- 
specting partition fences. They serve only on applica- 
tion. They decide what portion of a partition fence 
each of two parties shall maintain, or divide the expense 
between them ; and, in cases of neglect, they direct 
proper fences to be erected. 

Most townships maintain one or more pounds, or 

places for the enclosure and safe keepino^ 
Pound Masters. ^ • i j i. ii 5 

oi stray animals, and choose persons called 
Pound-masters to have the care of them. Cattle, 
sheep, swine and horses going at large in the highway 
without a keeper maybe driven to the pound, and cared 
for by the pound master until the owner can be noti- 
fied.^ The statutes prescribe the manner of advertising 
such estrays and the fees of the officers. 

CITIES. 

Public order and public safety are not as easily se- 
cured in a thickly settled community as where the pop- 
ulation is more scattered. Hence arises a necessity for 

1 In Iowa, the laws allow stray cattle to be taken and lield by any householder 
under specified limitations and conditions. The townships do not maintain 
pounds. 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. - 205 

a different organization with more extensive powers 
than the township possesses. When this necessity ex- 
ists, the people of any locality may be incorporated 
anew as a city. 

This is done in two ways. Sometimes the legislature 

errants a special act of incorporation called 

. , m, . T T 1 Incorporation of. 

a city charter. This must be accepted by 

a majority of the voters. The legislature cannot force 

a city organization upon any people. Sometimes a 

general law of the State authorizes the people of any 

township to assume a city organization by complying 

with specified conditions. In such cases the statutes 

also prescribe a way by which a city may return to the 

township organization if the people wish to do so. 

The entire administration of city affairs is vested in 
an officer called the Mayor, and a board of 
Aldermen or Councilmen. This board with 
the mayor forms the city council. The mayor is chosen 
by the voters of the whole city. The members of the 
council are chosen from election districts, called wards, 
into which the city is divided. The other principal 
officers are a clerk, ^ a treasurer, one or more assessors, 
a marshal or chief of police, and a city attorney or 
solicitor. 

Besides these, in some cities there is a superintendent 
of streets, a civil engineer, engineers of fire depart- 
ment, and other inferior officers. The mode of choos- 
ing these officers is prescribed by State law or by the 
city charter, and varies in different cities. Some of 
them are chosen by the people, and some are appointed 
by the city council. 

1 In Minnesota, the clerk is called the Recorder. 



206 CIVIL go\t:iinihent m the tjxited states. 

The mayor is the chief executive officer of the city. 
Duties of the ^^ ^^ ^i® duty to See that the laws of the 
Mayor. city are enforced, and to supervise the 

conduct of other executive officers. He presides at 
meetings of the city council,* and gives such informa- 
tion and makes such recommendations as he deems 
necessary. In Ohio and Indiana, the mayor acts as 
judge of the city court, unless a police judge is chosen 
by the people. 

The city council has, in general, the powers exercised 

by the township in fi^eneralmeetino:. Meas- 
Powers and *^ . . . . , 

Duties of the lu'cs for raismg, appropriatmg and bor- 

City Council. ^owiug money; the erection of public 
buildings and other public works ; creating public offi- 
ces ; the salaries of officials ; regulations to secure pub- 
lic order and safety, — all these are determined by the 
council. 

Besides these general powers, the council has the 
powers and duties of township supervisors or trustees. 
Among these are the control of police matters ; calling 
meetings for election ; laying out and altering streets ; 
granting licenses ; establishing fire department, water 
works and sewers ; appointing to the less important 
city offices. 

The duties of the clerk, treasurer and assessor are 
Duties of Inferior essentially the same as in the township. 
Officers. The marshal is the chief of the poUce, and 

has also the powers of a constable. The duties of the 
city solicitor or attorney are to draft all legal instru- 
ments required in the conduct of city affairs ; to act as 
attorney iu all cases at law in which the city is a party ; 

1 In Ohio and Minnesota, the presiding ofl5.cer is chosen by the council. 



TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND VILLAGES. 207 

to give legal advice when required by any city officer in 
the discharge of his duties. The duties of the other 
officers are indicated by their names. 

In most of the States the city schools are mider the 
care of a sinsrle board of education, con- ^ , , ^_ 

n T mi • 1 1 School Officers, 

sistmg of trustees or directors, i his board 

establishes schools, provides buildings and supplies, 
c6ntracts with teachers, determines studies and text- 
books, makes rules, and appoints a superintendent, who 
has the direct supervision of the schools and reports 
upon their condition and needs. 

Those regulations to promote the local welfare, called 
by-laws or ordinances, vary in number and 
extent with the population of the place. 
The more dense the population, the more poverty and 
crime, and the more danger from accident, fire and in- 
fectious diseases. The city ordinances are minute in 
their requirements respecting the removal of offal and 
filth ; the construction of sewers and drains ; the erec- 
tion and use of buildings ; the obstruction of streets by 
teams, or of sidewalks by ice and snow; the sale of 
meats, milk, fish and vegetables. They require the 
most careful precautions against fires. They punish 
truancy and vagrancy, because they are the source of 
crime. They protect public property in parks and 
cemeteries from mischievous or malicious injury. 

INCORPORATED VILLAGES. 

There are many communities too thickly settled to be 
governed under the township system, but not large 
enough to require a city organization. Such a com- 
munity may be incorporated as a village,^ Those are 

1 In ladiana and Iowa, tJie name incorporated town is used. 



208 ClYlJj GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

sometimes organized by special charter, but more com- 
monly under a general law, which pre- 
scribes the requisite population, how the 

question of incorporation shall be voted on, how the 

new government shall be organized, and what powers it 

shall have. 

In each callage there is a council consisting of a pres- 
ident^ and a board of trustees. In lUinois 

Officers. 

and Indiana, the president is chosen by 

the trustees from their OAvn number. In the other States, 
he is chosen by the people. Besides these, there is a 
clerk, ^ a treasurer, an assessor, a marshal, and some 
other inferior officers. The powers and duties of these 
officers are similar to those of the corresponding offi- 
cers in the cities, but are not as extensive. In its 
powers, the village is intermediate between a township 
and a city. 

In comparing the government of a city or village. 

with that of a township, we see that the 
Comparison of . . "■ . ^ -, 

City, Village legislative functions are exercised by the 
and Township, council, instead of by the whole body of 
voters. The township organization is more democratic 
than that of the city, and for this reason adapted only to a 
small community. The highest executive functions are 
performed by the council instead of by trustees or su- 
pervisors. Many of the inferior officers are elected by 
the council, instead of by the people. The voters meet 
in districts for election, instead of in one body. 

1 In Ohio and Iowa, the chief executive officer is called mayor. 

2 In Ohio, Indiana and Iowa, the clerk is called recorder, and is a member of 
the coimciL 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS. 

The time and manner of electing State and county 
officers are prescribed by statute, and are uniform 
throughout each State. In Illinois, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin^and Minnesota, the time is 
the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. 
In Ohio and Indiana, the time is the second Tuesday 
in October. In Iowa, the time is the second Tuesday 
in October, except in the year of the presidential elec- 
tion, when it is the Tuesday next after the first Monday 
in November. 

In Ohio, a voter must be a male citizen of the United 
States, who has attained twenty-one years Qualifications 
of age, and who has resided in the State of Voters. 
one year, in the county thirty days, and in the township 
or ward twenty days, next preceding the election at 
which he wishes to vote. 

In Indiana, a voter must be a male who has attained 
twenty-one years of age, and who has resided in the 
State six months next preceding the election, and who 
is a bona fide resident of the to^mship or ward where ) 
he seeks to vote. He must either be a citizen of the 
United States, or nmst have resided in the United 
States one year, and have declared his intention of 
becoming a citizen according to law. 

1 In WisconBin, the judicial officers and county superintendent are elected iu 
April. 209 



210 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE IJNITEB STATES. 

lu niinois, a voter must be a male citizen of the 
United States, who has attamed twenty-one years of 
age, and who has resided in the State one year, in the 
county ninety days, and in the election district thirty 
days, next preceding the election. 

In Michigan, a voter must be a male who has attained 
twenty-one years of age, and who has resided in the 
State three months, and in the township or ward ten 
days, next preceding the election. He must either be 
a citizen of the United States ; or have been a resident 
in the State on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1835 ; or 
a resident of the State on the first day of January, 1850, 
who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen six 
months before the election ; or a resident of the State 
for two years and six months, who has declared his in- 
tention as above ; or a civilized inhabitant of Indian 
descent who is a native of the United States and not a 
member of any tribe. 

In Wisconsin, a voter must be a male who has at- 
tained twenty-one years of age, and who has resided in 
the State one year next preceding the election. He 
must be a white citizen of the United States ; or a 
white person who has declared his intention of becoming 
a citizen ; or a person of Indian blood who has once 
been declared by law of Congress to be a citizen, any 
subsequent law of Congress to the contrary notwith- 
standing ; or a civilized person of Indian descent who is 
not a member of any tribe. 

In Iowa, a voter must be a male citizen of the United 
States, who has attained twenty-one years of age, and 
who has resided in the State six months, and in the 
county sixty days, next preceding the election. 



ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIOXS. 211 

In ^Minnesota, a voter must be a male who has attained 
twenty-one years of age, and who has resided in the 
State four months, and in the election district ten days, 
next preceding the election. He must be a citizen of 
the United States ; or a person who has declared his 
intention of becoming a citizen ; or a ci^dlized person 
of mixed white and Indian blood ; or a civilized person 
of Indian blood who has been declared capable of en- 
joying citizenship by the District Court of the State. 

Usually each township and each ward of a city con- 
stitutes an election district, but townships 

, T.TT.,i 1 . Election Districts. 

may be divided into two or more election 

precincts or districts, if convenience in voting seems to 

require such division. 

In each election district there are judges and clerks 
of elections, who receive, count and record 

J.1 , T n ^ 1 • 1 • 1 p Election Officers, 

the votes. In all townships which form 
one election district, the township trustees or super- 
visors act as judges of election. In States where each 
township has but one trustee or supervisor, two other 
persons are associated with him as judges. Thus, in 
Indiana, the township trustee is called inspector of 
elections, and he appoints two other persons to act with 
him as judges. In Illinois, the board consists of the 
township supervisor, assessor, and collector ; in Michi- 
gan, of the supervisor, the justice of the peace Avhose 
term first expires, and the township clerk. 

The township clerk and one other person appointed 
by the judges act as clerks of election. 

When a township contains more than one election 
district, three judges and two clerks are appointed in 
each. A similar board of ofiicers is appointed in each 
ward of a city. 



212 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 

All State and county officers are elected % ballot. 

On the day of election each voter presents 
Manner of Voting, i . , it , , ^ ^i , ^ tp .i 

his ballot to one of the judges. If the 

judge, or any other voter, has reason to believe that 
any person offering to vote is not legally qualified to 
do so, he may challenge the vote. If this is done, the 
judge may require the person to take oath, or to affirm, 
that he has each of the qualifications required by law. 
If the person refuses to do this, his vote is not received. 
When the judge receives a ballot, he deposits it in a 
box provided for the purpose, and calls the name of the 
voter. The clerks record the name in books provided 
for the purpose, called poll-books or poll-lists. 

In Illinois, Michigan, loAva and Minnesota, the judges 

of election are required by law, at a speci- 

egisryo o es. ^^^ ^.^^^ before each annual election, to 

make a register of all the legal voters in the township. 
This register is open to the public. At another speci- 
fied time, usually about a week before the election, the 
board of registry meet for the purpose of adding to the 
list the names of such persons as claim to be entitled to 
vote. This register is in the hands of the election offi- 
cers, and at the election, as the name of the voter is 
called, it is checked on the list. 

At the close of the election, the judges examine the 
ballots, and the clerks record in the poll- 
book the names of the persons voted for 
for each office, with the number of votes for each. One 
of these duplicate poll-books is kept by the township 
clerk, and the other is sent, properly certified to, to the 
county clerk, or to some other designated county officer. 

In each county, certain officers are designated by law 



ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS. 213 

to form a board of county canvassers. In Ohio, the 
board consists of the clerk of the court 

n ^ 1 J • J' n ja Countv Canvass. 

oi common pleas and two justices oi the 
peace. In Indiana and Michigan, it consists of one of 
the judges from each of the election districts, who has 
been selected by the local board. In Illinois and Wis- 
consin, it consists of the county clerk and two justices 
of the peace ; In Iowa, of the county supervisors ; in 
Minnesota, of the county auditor and two justices of the 
peace. 

The board examines the returns made by the clerks 
of the several election districts, and makes a list of the 
persons voted for for each office, with the number of 
votes for each. After such examination, the board de- 
clares what persons are elected to the several county 
offices. 

In the election of representatives and senators, there 
are usually district boards of canvassers, who examine 
the returns and declare what persons are chosen. 

An abstract of the votes for State officers is sent 
from each county to the secretary of State, 
and by him laid before a board of State state Canvass, 
canvassers. This board examines the returns, and de- 
clares what persons are elected to the several State 
offices. In the election of all State and county officers, 
the person having the highest number of votes is de- 
clared elected. 

Certificates of election are given to persons chosen to 
county offices by the county clerk;' and to persons 
chosen to State offices, by the governor or secretary of 
State. 

1 In Ohio, certificates are issued by the clerk of the court of common pleas; 
in Iowa, by the president of the board of supervisors ; in Minnesota, by the 
county aiiditor. 



214 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
NOMINATIONS. 

The constitution and laws of each State, as we have 
seen, prescribe minutely the mode of electing the vari- 
ous officers ; but the selection of candidates is left to 
be determined by political parties into which the people 
are divided, and by them the whole matter is systema- 
tized. 

Each party has a State committee to look after the gen- 
eral interests of the party, and to promote 

Committees. ., mi • i -j-j. • 

its success. ihere is also a committee m 
each county; in each township, city and ward in the 
county ; and in each representative and senatorial dis- 
trict. 

Several months before a general election, the State 

committee issues a call for a convention 

Call of Convention , .. Tij.r»,ioj^j^ i^ 

to nominate candidates for the State offi- 
ces. The call states the basis of representation in the 
convention, one delegate being allowed for a specified 
number of party voters. 

Upon receiving this notice, the local committee issues 

calls for caucuses. These are meetings of 

the voters of a party in a township or 

a ward, for the purpose of choosing delegates to a 

convention, or of nominating candidates for local offices. 

Sometimes the deleo^ates to the State convention are 
chosen at a county convention, which may be a 7nass 
convention of all the voters of the party in the county, 
or it may be composed of delegates from the townships 
and wards, chosen at caucuses. 

The delegates from all the counties or townships meet 
jj . . ^ at the appointed time, and, aftej.- organiz- 

Convention. ing, choose candidates for all the State 



ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS. 215 

offices that are to become vacant at the end of the offi- 
cial year. Before or after the nominations are made, a 
platform is adopted. This consists of a number of res- 
olutions setting forth the principles of the party which 
the nominees are supposed to represent. 

Later in the year, county conventions are held to 
nominate county officers, and district and judicial con- 
ventions, to nominate candidates for both branches of 
the legislature, and for judges of the different courts. 
To all of these, delegates are sent from the local cau- 
cuses. The frequency of these conventions in any State 
depends upon the length of term of the different 
offices. 

Each party having made its nominations, the cam- 
paign, as it is called, opens. Every effort 
is made by public meetings, by the news- ^ ampaign. 
papers, and by personal influence, to secure the great- 
est number of votes for each candidate ; and the work 
goes on, under the supervision of the various commit- 
tees, until the day of election. 

This convention system makes it possible for politi- 
cal manao^ers to control the election. The ^^. ,. 

^ Objections to 

voter, on the day of election, has little the System. 
room for choice. He must either vote for the nominee 
of his party or of the opposite party, or throw away 
his ballot by casting it for some person who has no 
chance of election. He may like neither of the candi- 
dates ; and his vote may only indicate his choice of 
evils. It is now too late for him to protest. 

The place of influence is the primary caucus. If 
that is controlled by pohticians for selfish importance of 
purposes, the candidates will be men of the Caucus- 



216 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. - 

the same stamp, and tlie government will be corrupt. 
The fate of the nation is decided at the caucuses, not 
at the elections. If it is a duty of every voter to vote, 
it is a more imperative duty for him to attend the 
primary meetings of his party. If he does not do so, 
he has no right to complain of dishonest or incompe- 
tent officials. He must blame himself for his own 
negligence. 




ORDinSTAlSrCB OF 1787. 



In Congress, July 13, 11 81, 



An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of thh United 
States northwest of the river Ohio. 

JBe it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That 
the said Territory, for the purposes of temporary government, 
be one district; subject, however, to be divided into two districts, 
as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make 
it expedient. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, both 
of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said Territory, 
dying intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among their 
children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; 
the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the 
share of their deceased parent, in equal parts, among them; and 
where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal 
parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals, 
the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall 
have, in equal parts, among them, their deceased parent's share; 
and there shall in no case be a distinction between kindred of 
the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of the 
intestate her third part of the real estate for life, and one third 
part of the personal estate ; and this law relative to descents and 
dower shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature 
of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt 
laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said Territory may 
be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed 
by him or her in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and 
attested by three witnesses, and real estates may be conveyed 
by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and de- 



218 ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

livered by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may 
be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly 
proved and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execu- 
tion thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after 
proper magistrates, courts, and registers shall be appointed for 
that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by de- 
livery, saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, 
and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincent's, and the 
neighboring villages^ who have heretofore professed themselves 
citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among 
them, relative to descent and conveyance of property. 

Be it ordained hy the authority aforesaid, That there shall be 
appointed from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose 
commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, 
unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the dis- 
trict, and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres 
of land, while in the exercise of his office. There shall be 
appointed from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose 
commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner 
revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold es- 
tate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise 
of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the Acts 
and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the 
district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive 
department; and transmit authentic copies of sucb acts and pro- 
ceedings, every six months, to the secretary of Congress. There 
shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any 
two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law 
jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a 
freehold estate, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exer- 
cise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in 
force during good behavior. 

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt 
and publish in the district such laws of the original States, 
criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the 
circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress, from 
time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district until 
the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disap- 
proved of by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall 
have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. 



OEDINANCE OF 1787. 219 

The governor, for the thne being, shall be commander-in-chief 
of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, 
below the rank of general officers. All general officers shall be 
appointed and commissioned by Congress. 

Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the gov- 
ernor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in 
each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the pres- 
ervation of the peace and good order in the same. After the 
general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of 
magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined 
by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, 
not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of 
this temporary government, be appointed by the governor. 

For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be 
adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and 
for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor 
shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from 
time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts 
of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extin- 
guished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such 
alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature. 

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, 
of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the gov- 
ernor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect 
representatives from their counties or townships, to represent 
them in the general assembly; provided^ that for every five hun- 
dred free male inhabitants there shall be one representative, and 
so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants 
shall the right of representation increase, until the number of 
representatives shall amount to twenty-five, after which the num- 
ber and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the 
legislature; provided^ that no person be eligible or qualified to act 
as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of 
the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, 
or unless he shall have resided in the district three years, and in 
either case shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, 
two hundred acres of land within the same; provided, also, that 
a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a cit- 
izen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or 



220 ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, shall be 
necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. 

The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of 
two years, and in case of the death of a representative, or removal 
from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or town- 
ship for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, 
to serve for the residue of the term. 

The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the gover- 
nor, legislative council, and a House of Kepresentatives. The 
legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in 
office for five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any 
three of whom to be a quorum, and the members of the council 
shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to 
wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor 
shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and 
when met they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the dis- 
trict, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of 
land, and return their names to Congress ; five of whom Congress 
shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and when- 
ever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal 
from office, the House of Representatives shall nominate two per- 
sons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their 
names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and 
commission for the residue of the term; and every five years, 
four months at least before the expiration of the time of service 
of the members of council, the said House shall nominate ten per- 
sons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, 
five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as 
members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. 

And the governor, legislative council, and House of Eepresen- 
tatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases for the good 
government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and 
articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills 
having passed by a majority in the House, and by a majority in 
the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but 
no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without 
his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, 
and dissolve the general assembly, when in his opinion it shall 
be expedient. 



ORDINANCE OF 1787. 221 

The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such 
other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take 
an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office — the governor 
before the president of Congress, and all other officers before 
the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the 
district, the council and house, assembled in one room, shall have 
authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who 
shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not 
of voting, during this temporary government. 

And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and 
religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, 
their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish those 
principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and govern- 
ments which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said ter- 
ritory; to provide also for the establishment of States, and 
permanent government therein, and for their admission to a 
share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the origi- 
nal States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the gen- 
eral interest. 

It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, 
That the following articles shall be considered as articles of com- 
pact between the original States and the people and States in the 
said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common 
consent, to wit: — 

Article I. — No person demeaning himself in a peaceable 
and orderly manner shall ever be molested on account of his 
mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said Territory. 

Art, II. — The inhabitants of the said Territory shall always 
be entitled to the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus and of 
trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in 
the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the 
course of the common law; all persons shall be bailable unless 
for capital ofiences, where the proof shall be evident or the pre- 
sumption great; all fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or un- 
usual punishments shall be inflicted; no man shall be deprived 
of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers or 
the law of the land; and should the public exigencies make it 
necessary for the common preservation to take any person's 
property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation 



222 ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

shall be made for the same; and in the just preservation of 
rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law 
ought ever to be made or have force in the said Territory that 
shall in any manner whatever interfere with or affect private 
contracts or engagements, &o?ia^cZe and without fraud previously 
formed. 

Art. III. — Eeligion, morality, and knowledge, being neces- 
sary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The 
utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; 
their lands and property shall never be taken from them without 
their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they 
shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful 
wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and 
humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing 
wrongs being done to them and for preserving peace and friend- 
ship with them. 

Art. TV. — The said Territory and the States which may be 
formed therein shall forever remain a part of this confederacy 
of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of 
Confederation, and to such alteration therein as shall be consti- 
tutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United 
States, in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhab- 
itants and settlers in the said Territoiy shall be subject to pay a 
part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a 
proportional part of the expenses of government, to be appor- 
tioned on them, by Congress, according to the same common 
rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be 
made on the other States; and the taxes for pajing their pro- 
portion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction 
of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as 
in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United 
States, in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those dis- 
tricts, or new States, shall never interfere with the primary 
disposal of the soil by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for secur- 
ing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers, ^o tax 
shall be imposed on lands the property of the United Slates, 
and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher 



ORDINANCE OF 1787. 223 

than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Missis- 
sippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the 
same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to 
the inhabitants of the said Territory as to the citizens of the 
United States, and those of any other States that may be admitted 
into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. 
Art. Y. — There shall be formed in the said Territory not 
less than three nor more than five States ; and the boundaries 
of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession 
and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as 
follows, to wit: The western State in the said Territory shall 
be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; 
a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents due 
north to the territorial line between the United States and Can- 
ada, and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods 
and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said 
direct line, the Wabash from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the 
Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the 
Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by said territorial 
line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned 
direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line; 
provided^ however, and it is further understood and declared, 
that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far 
to be altered that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient 
they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part 
of the said Territory which lies north of an east and west line 
drawn through the southerly beud or extreme of Lake Michi- 
gan; and whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thou- 
sand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted 
by its delegates into the Congress of the United States, on 
an equal footing with the original States in all respects 
whatsoever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent consti- 
tution and State government; provided, the constitution and 
government so to be formed shall be republican, and in con- 
formity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far 
as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confeder- 
acy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and 
when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the State 
than sixty thousand. 



224 



ORDIXANCE OF 1787. 



Aet. YI. — There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punish- 
ment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; 
provided^ always, that any person escaping into the same, from 
whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the origi- 
nal States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and con- 
veyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as 
aforesaid. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions 
of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordi- 
nance, be and the same are hereby repealed and declared null 
and void. • 




PART IV. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 




CHAPTER XXV. 

THE HISTORY OF THE UNION BEFORE THE CONSTI- 
TUTION. 

The brief sketch which we have given of the early- 
history of the thirteen English colonies in Tendencies to 
America has shown the great diversity Separation, 
that existed, not only in origin, but in the character of 
the people. This diversity was the cause of mutual 
jealousies. Local prejudices abounded ; and frequently 
disputes about territory and boundaries brought open 
hostilities. Though the people were all British subjects, 
yet only common dangers led them very gradually to see 
that, as Americans, they had common interests. Colo- 
nial union was not accomplished by any one act or suc- 
cession of acts. It developed, under the pressure of cir- 
cumstances, as a sentiment in the minds of the people, 
before it existed as a fact in their history. It was fore- 
shadowed in the New England confederacy, and pro- 
moted by the constant aggressions of the French. 

As early as 1690, the General Court of Massachusetts, 
by letters addressed to the other New Early Colonial 
England colonies and New York, invited Conferences, 
them to unite in a meeting of commissioners to consult 
and determine for their common safety. In this confer- 
ence four colonies were represented, — Massachusetts, 

227 



228 CrVTL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Plymouth, Connecticut, and New York. They agreed 
upon measures for raising a joint arniy, and devised 
the various plans which were carried into execution 
during what is known as King William's war. It was 
a common occurrence for commissioners from several 
of the colonies to meet to treat with the Indian tribes ; 
and there was frequent official correspondence between 
them relating to the common defence. 

The idea of a permanent union was advocated about 
TJnion favored by ttiis time, and various plans were sug- 
two Parties. gested ; one by William Penn. Union was 
favored by two opposite classes. One party desired to 
promote the interests of the colonies, and strengthen 
them in their free organization. The other, friends of 
royalty, wished to check the spirit of freedom by sub- 
jecting all to the control of one central authority 
directed by the crown. 

In 1754, by request of the British Government, a 
The Albany Con- convention was held at Albany, consisting 
vention. of delegates from seven of the colonies. 

The object of the meeting was twofold : first, to form 
a treaty of alHance with the chief of the Six Nations ; 
second, to enter into a union, or confederation, with 
each other for mutual defence. This convention 
adopted a plan of confederation prepared by Benjamin 
Franklin. This scheme proposed to leave the govern- 
ment of each colony in its existing form, giving to the 
local legislatures the power to choose members of a 
grand council, which should be the legislature of the 
union. This body was to meet annually, and was to 
have power to deal in all matters with the Indians, to 
provide for the common defence, and to levy taxes within 
the colonies to meet necessary expenses.- Its laws were 



THE UNION BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 229 

to be submitted to the king, and might be disapproved 
by him within three years. There was to be a presi- 
dent-general appointed and supported by the crown. 
He was to nominate military officers, deal in Indian 
affairs, and execute the laws of the grand council, 
upon whose acts he was to have a negative. This 
plan met with little favor from any of the colonies. 
They were not yet ready for union. Providence in- 
tended, that, when they did unite, it should be as 
independent States, rather than as subject prov- 
inces. 

Ten years later, a long step was taken towards union. 
The passage of the Stamp Act led the lead- Tj^e colonial 
ing patriots in the colonies to see the abso- Congress, 
lute necessity of a union of all the colonies in resisting 
arbitrary measures of the British Government. Adams, 
Otis, and the Warrens, of Massachusetts, from this time 
onward, were unceasing in their efforts to bring about 
so desirable a result. The first step was taken by Massa- 
chusetts, in calling a general congress, representing the 
assemblies of all the colonies. This first general colo- 
nial congress was held in New York, in October, 1765. 
It consisted of twenty-eight delegates, from nine of 
the colonies. Virginia, New Hampshire, Georgia, and 
North Carolina, though sympathizing with the move- 
ment, did not send representatives. The congress 
adopted a declaration of rights and grievances, an ad- 
dress to the king, and one to the House of Lords, and 
a petition to the House of Commons. These acts were 
ratified by the colonial assemblies. 

This congress, like the conventions that had preceded 
it, was chosen for a temporary purpose, committees of 
and, having done its work, dissolved. It Correspondence. 

20 



230 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

required nine years more of British aggression to bring 
the masses of the people up to the idea of a permanent 
union. During these years, the union spirit was fos- 
tered by the machinery of committees of correspondence, 
devised by Samuel Adi. ns, and chosen in most of the 
towns of Massachusetts, and afterward in the other 
colonies. By means of these, the people of different 
sections were kept acquainted with each other's views 
and plans ; and every new measure of the government 
served to draw them closer together. 

After the passage of the Boston Port Bill, the desire 
The Continental became general to form another congress ; 
Congress. and, in response to a call from Massachu- 

setts, on the 5th of September, 1774, fifty-five delegates 
from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia, and began 
the sessions of the famed Continental Congress. Geor- 
gia did not send delegates at first, but promised to 
concur with the other colonies. This body prepared a 
declaration of rights and grievances, an address to the 
king, one to the people of Great Britain, and another 
to the people of the northern provinces. 

But the most important act was the formation by 

^ „ , the delegates, for themselves and the colo- 

The Non-Inter- & ' ■, n . . 

coarse Associa- nies they represented, oi an association 

*^°^' for the non-importation, non-exportation, 

and non-consumption of British merchandise. The 
articles of agreement established rules for the govern- 
ment of the people in matters pertaining to the use of 
imported goods. This has been called '' the first enact- 
ment of a general law by America," " the commence- 
ment of the American Union." The action of this 
congress was most heartily indorsed by the people 
throughout the colonies ; and either in conventions 



THE UNION BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 231 

chosen for the purpose, or by the colonial assemblies, 
all the colonies but Georgia and New York ratified the 
articles of the association, and assumed obligations to 
them as to a national law. 

The men who composed this first Continental Con- 
gress were the ablest and wisest among Ability of the 
the American people. Lord Chatham, in Congress, 
the House of Lords, said of them, " For myself, I must 
declare and avow, that in all my reading and observa- 
tion, — and it has been my favorite study : I have read 
Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master 
states of the world, — that for solidity of reasoning, 
force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under 
such a compUcation of circumstances, no nation, or 
body of men, can stand in preference to the General 
Congress at Philadelphia." 

That the sentiment of union, of nationality, was 
now complete, is shown by the treatment, xjnion Accom- 
in the different colonies, of the plan of con- plished. 
ciliation proposed by the British Government. This 
plan was submitted to each colony separately, in the 
hope to induce some to make terms with the crown, and 
so weaken the popular party. But every assembly re- 
fused to treat separately with Great Britain, declaring 
that they should leave the whole matter to the general 
congress. From this time, the thirteen American colo- 
nies were one people. As such, they were represented 
by the Continental Congress, which met again as a per- 
manent institution in the following May, and continued 
its sessions from time to time until 1781. It at once 
showed its national character by assuming the support 
of the army gathered about Boston, and by appointing 
Washington commander-in-chief, and still more decid- 



232 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

edly by entering into negotiations with foreign nations. 
Union was now an accomplished fact. But the machin- 
ery of government was defective ; and, after the Declar- 
ation of Independence, the congress began to discuss 
s for a more formal confederation. 




THE CONTEDEEATION. 

The Declaration of Independence changed entirely 
the political character of the American colonies. The 
people were now independent and sovereign; and as 
such they proceeded at once to organize themselves 
in accordance with their changed condition. They 
adopted, by popular vote, State constitutions based 
upon the American ideas of local self-government. 
But, in all, the sphere of State government was lim- 
ited to its own internal affairs. None of the constitu- 
tions made any provisions for intercourse with foreign 
nations. This external sovereignty the people had 
already vested in the general congress ; and they never 
withdrew it. 

On the 11th of June, 1776, a committee was ap- 
Formation of pointed by Congress to prepare articles of 
Confederation, confederation. This committee reported 
in July following ; but the views and interests of the 
various colonies were so diverse, and so many vexing 
questions arose as to the relative authority of the local 
and general governments, that it was not until Novem- 
ber, 1777, that the articles were finally adopted by 
Congress, and submitted to the States. It was not until 
March 1, 1781, that Maryland, the last of the colonies, 
ratified them. On the 2d of March, 1781, the new 
government went into operation. 



THE CONFEDEEATION. 233 

The instrument was called " Articles of Confederation 
and Perpetual Union between the States." __ ^ 

^ Nature and 

The confederacy was styled " The United Powers of the 
States of America ; " and it was declared ^^^o^- 
to be " a league of friendship," for " common defence," 
" security of liberties," and " mutual and general wel- 
fare." Each State was to retain its sovereignty, free- 
dom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, 
and right not expressly delegated by the articles to the 
United States Congress. A citizen of any State was to 
be treated as such by every other State ; and full liberty 
of travel and commerce was guaranteed. Fugitives 
from justice were to be delivered up. 

The general government had but one department. 
This was a Congress, to be composed of 
delegates from the States, chosen in such 
a manner as the legislatures should direct. No State 
could have less than two or more than seven members. 
The delegates were supported by the State, and might 
be recalled at any time. In the conduct of business in 
the Congress, each State had one vote, determined by a 
majority of its delegates. This had been the practice 
of the Continental Congress. The Congress had sole 
power respecting peace and war, ambassadors, treaties 
and alHances, and matters pertaining to the capture 
and disposal of prizes taken in war. It had also the 
sole right to fix the value of coin, and the standard of 
weights and measures, to manage Indian affairs, estab- 
lish postal communication, appoint land and naval 
officers, and make rules for the government of the 
forces and the direction of operations. It was the busi- 
ness of the Congress to ascertain and appropriate the 
sums of money necessary to meet the public expenses ; 

20* 



234 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

to borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the 
United States; to decide upon the number of land 
forces and the quota of each State, this quota being 
based upon the number of white inhabitants. The 
more important of these powers could not be exercised 
without the consent of nine States. 

The executive business was transacted by commit- 
Executive ^^^^ and officers appointed by the Con- 

Business, gress. A committee, consisting of one 

member from each State, was also appointed to sit dur- 
ing the recess, and execute such of the less important 
powers of the Congress as might be delegated to it by 
that body. The States were forbidden to exercise the 
functions delegated to the Congress. 

The expenses of the general government were to be 
defrayed out of a common treasury sup- 
plied by the States, each paying to it in 
proportion to the value, of land granted and surveyed 
within its limits. The taxes for this purpose were to 
be levied by the authority of the State legislatures, the 
time being fixed by the Congress. 

Every State agreed to comply with the requisitions 
of the Congress, to inviolably observe all the articles of 
the confederation, and to make the union perpetuaL 
The articles were not to be altered except by the Con- 
gress with the assent of all the State legislatures. The 
instrument contains no hint of a possibility of volun- 
tary withdrawal by any State. 

The leading minds of the country foresaw that the 
Defects of the government established by these articles 
Confederation, would not meet the necessities of the 
nation. But this was the best that could be obtained 
at that time. A few years of trial convinced the peo- 



THE CONFEDERATION. 235 

pie of the defects of the confederation. In looking for 

these defects, we notice first the nature of the union. 

Out of this grew all other evils. It was 

called a league of States ; and complete 

internal sovereignty was granted to each of these local 

organizations. 

It followed directly from this, that the Congress 
had no coercive power. It could not go 2. No Coercive 
within the States to deal with individuals ; ^ower. 
and the States themselves could not be coerced by the 
ordinary processes of law. Since there was no power 
to coerce, there was no penalty attached to the enact- 
ments of Congress, and therefore no judiciary to apply, 
and no executive to enforce them. They had not the 
essential qualities of laws : they were only recommen- 
dations. The elements of government are law, penalty, 
judgment, execution. The confederation was destitute 
of all these. It was only government in name. 

A third defective feature was the fact that the power 
to tax was reserved to the States, and they 3, uo Power to 
might and did disregard the levies made T^^* 
by the Congress. The confederation had not power to 
collect a dollar. Hence it had no credit ; for this is 
based on confidence in the ability of the borrower to 
pay. If he has no property, and no means of getting 
any, he will not be trusted. A government without 
money or credit cannot sustain itself an}^ better than a 
man can in the same circumstances. Its promises to 
pay are worthless. For this reason the paper money 
issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolu- 
tion rapidly depreciated, until at the close of the war a 
bushel of it would not buy a breakfast. The evils that 
resulted from this condition of affairs were many and 



236 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

grievous. The soldiers were unpaid, the army contract- 
ors were clamorous for their dues ; and, worse than all, 
thousands of families whose entire wealth had been 
invested in continental money were suddenly reduced 
to poverty. 

Another defect in the articles was the withholding 
4 N p t ^^^ ^^® Congress of the power to regulate 
Beguiate Com- commerce. This led to the greatest diver- 
^®^^®' sity in the commercial enactments of the 

several States. Each State adopted a selfish policy, try- 
ing to build up its own commerce at the expense of its 
neighbors. Mutual jealousies and bitterness grew out 
of this conduct. The Congress could make no commer- 
cial treaties with other nations, because it had no power 
to enforce their provisions upon the citizens of the 
States. 

Recapitulating these defects, we find them to be, the 

nature of -the union, the want of coercive 

ecapi u a ion. p^^^^.^ ^j-^g absence of a judiciary and a 

responsible executive, the inability to tax, the conse- 
quent loss of credit, and the absence of power to 
regulate commerce. In consequence of all these, the 
confederation failed to inspire respect at home and 
abroad. All parties came to see that it could not meet 
the requirements of the union, and that every day the 
union itself was growing weaker. But these very 
defects were valuable lessons from which the people 
learned how to build up a more stable government. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE OEIGIN AND OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

The commercial troubles, mentioned in the last 
chapter, led the legislatures of Maryland Preliminary 
and Virginia, in 1785, to appoint commis- Measures, 
sioners to make a compact relative to the navigation of 
the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. The commis- 
sioners found that they had too little power, and recom- 
mended to their legislatures a convention in which aU 
the States should be represented, and which should 
devise means to secure uniformity in commercial regu- 
lations. Virginia issued a call to all the States ; and 
five of them — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, and Virginia — sent commissioners to Annapo- 
lis in 1786. They found their powers too limited, and 
proposed another convention in which delegates from 
all the States should " take into consideration the situ- 
ation of the United States," and " devise such further 
provisions as should appear to them necessary to render 
the constitution of the federal government adequate to 
the exigencies of the Union." 

In February, 1787, Congress passed a resolution rec- 
ommending a convention to meet in Phil- xhe Convention 
adelphia in the ensuing May, for the pur- o^ l'^'^^. 
pose of revising the articles of confederation. All the 

237 



238 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

States except Rhode Island sent delegates, who met at 
the appointed time and place. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention. It was found 
impossible to secure the desired end by using the 
articles of confederation as a basis ; and an entirely new 
constitution was drafted, differing from the old in the 
nature, form, and powers of the government which it 
proposed. This draft was discussed and amended, and 
in its final form adopted by the convention Sept. 17, 
1787. It was then submitted to Congress, and by that 
body transmitted to the legislatures of the 
States, with a recommendation that it be 
laid before a convention of delegates chosen for that 
purpose by the people in each State. Within a year, 
the Constitution was ratified by conventions in eleven 
States. North Carolina ratified in 1789, and Rhode 
Island in 1790. In March, 1789, the new government 
went into operation. 

The ratification was only secured by the most strenu- 
Objectionstothe ^us efforts of the friends of the Constitu- 
Constitution. tion. There v/as hardly a feature of it 
that escaped criticism ; and its most important provis- 
ions were subject to opposition on the most diverse 
grounds. Experience has shown how groundless were 
most of the fears, and how absurd were many of the 
objections. 

The discussions which followed the publication of 
the Constitution divided the country into 
two great parties, — the Federalists who 
advocated, and the Anti-Federalists who opposed, its 
ratification. Among the men whose influence was 
most powerful in favor of the new government, were 
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. They to- 



OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 239 

gether wrote, and published in a New York newspaper, 
a series of articles which now constitute one work 
entitled '' The Federalist." Of the eighty-five papers 
in the work, Mr. Hamilton probably wrote about sixty, 
Mr. Jay five or six, and Mr. Madison the remainder. 
They are rich in historical illustrations, and discuss 
thoroughly and ably the various objections to the new 
government. 

THE OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

The objects of the Constitution are stated in the 
brief preamble : " We, the people of the 
United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quillity, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America." 

The language used in this preamble throws much 
light upon the nature of the new union. 
It was to be a " more perfect union ' ' than 
had previously existed. That union was a league of 
States, and perhaps as perfect as such a union could be. 
To improve it, its nature must be changed. Hence, 
instead of a league of States, a union of people is 
formed. A nation is organized, instead of a confeder- 
ation. The underlying principle of the constitutional 
government is national^ wot federal. The people of the 
United States is one people. The Constitution is 
ordained and established by this people, for this people. 
While the instrument, as we shall see, recognizes the 
existence of States, and provides for their continuance, 
it does not derive its authority from them ; they are not 



240 CrVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the original parties to the agreement, nor are they, as 
States, subjects of the government. The people of the 
United States by this act constitute one state, whose 
name is the United States of America. 

While each State had its own judicial tribunals, and 
aimed to secure justice among its own citi- 
zens, the local laws frequently discrimi- 
nated most unjustly against the citizens of other States. 
This was especially true of the laws relative to the pay- 
ment of debts. In the settlement of disputes concern- 
ing the property of citizens of foreign nations, there 
was no uniformity ; and the treaties with those nations 
were persistently violated by local legislation. There 
was an absolute necessity for some tribunal possessing 
supreme authority, which should have a national juris- 
diction, by which inter-state and international justice 
should be established. 

During the period of the confederation, the country 
3. Domestic ^^^ i^ ^ most deplorable condition. There 
Tranquillity. ^^s a complete stagnation in business. 
The States were burdened by heavy war debts; and 
many of the citizens were bankrupt. Taxes were 
necessarily heavy, but the poverty of the people made 
them seem doubly oppressive. In tliis state of affairs, 
in 1786, the peace of Massachusetts was disturbed by 
persons who gathered in large numbers at the various 
county towns in the western and central parts of the 
State, to prevent the holding of the courts. These peo- 
ple complained that the government was extravagant 
and oppressive ; that the courts were held in the inter- 
ests of the rich. They demanded that the taxes should 
be lightened, and that the suits for debt should be 
stayed. The tone and actions of these men were so 



OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 241 

alarming, and their number so formidable, that it 
became necessary to call out the militia of the State. 
Thej were finally dispersed after one or two slight 
engagements, with the loss of several lives. This dis- 
turbance is called Shays' Rebellion, from Daniel Shays, 
one of the leaders of the insurgents. If some action 
were not taken by which the public credit could be 
restored, and the various industries of the people 
revived, such disturbances were likely to occur at any 
time and in any locality. Hence the third object of 
the Constitution was stated to be " to insure domestic 
tranquillity." 

" To provide for the common defence " had been the 
leading object in all the various move- 
ments towards union. To secure this, the 
heartiest co-operation of all the States was needed. But, 
in the present state of affairs, voluntary co-operation 
could not be hoped for. There must be a central 
authority competent to inspire confidence at home and 
respect abroad. The general government must have 
the power to raise armies, and the power of taxation to 
support them. Only in this way could the common 
defence be longer provided for. 

All the objects that have been stated would, if at- 
tained, have tended "to promote the 5. General 
general welfare;" but there were more Welfare, 
direct benefits to be hoped from a national govern- 
ment. Regulating commerce, fostering industries irre- 
spective of sectional interests, carrying on internal im- 
provements, establishing communication between the 
States, encouraging science — all these it was the ob- 
ject of tlie Constitution to secure. 

The final object of the Constitution is stated to be, 

21 



242 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

" to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
6. Security of ^^^ posterity." Since the settlement of 
Liberty. h^q colonies, their history had been one 

continual struggle for liberty. This boon they had 
now acquired. But it needed no peculiar sagacity to 
foresee that thirteen small sovereign States could not 
exist side by side, and all retain their independence. 
Mutual jealousies would provoke hostility; the weaker 
would become the prey of the stronger ; and, thus di- 
vided, all might again be brought under the power of 
some foreign state. History furnishes numerous illus- 
trations of such disasters. To secure the blessings of 
liberty was as necessary as to acquire them. 

While this preamble confers no powers upon the 
government under the Constitution, it serves to show 
the scope of its powers, and to throw light upon the 
interpretation of obscure provisions. We have now to 
examine the constitution in detail to see how it accom- 
plishes the objects for which the people ordained it. 



^ 

M 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

All legislative powers granted by tlie Constitution 
are vested in a Congress of the United 
States, which consists of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES. 

The number of members of the first House of Repre- 
sentatives was fixed by the Constitution at Number of 
sixty-five ; but subsequently the number Members, 
has been determined by Congress, and has changed 
from time to time as the population of the country has 
increased. The Constitution provides that the number 
shall at no time exceed one for every thirty thousand 
inhabitants. The number of members of the present 
house is two hundred and ninety-two. 

The representatives are chosen by the people of the 
several States. The States are divided 
into congressional districts, in each of 
which the people elect one representative. But this 
district system is established by law, not by the Consti- 
tution. Any person who, in any State, is entitled by 
law to vote for members of the larger branch of the 
legislature, may vote for representative in Congress. 

248 



244 CIVIL GOVERNMENT m THE UNITED STATES. 

Qualifications of voters are thus determined by the 
States, not by the general government. 

The representatives are apportioned among the States 
according to the number of inhabitants, 
excluding from that number Indians not 
taxed. When the Constitution was formed, the num- 
ber of inhabitants on whiah representation was based 
was made up by adding to the whole number of free 
persons those bound to service for a term of years, and 
three-fifths of the slaves ; excluding, as now, Indians 
not taxed. Since the abolition of slaver}', the Con- 
stitution has been amended to meet the changed cir- 
cumstances. This apportionment is made after each 
decennial census, beginning with 1790. The whole 
number of people in the United States is divided by 
the number of representatives, which has been pre- 
viously fixed by Congress. The quotient is the number 
of inhabitants entitled to one representative : it is called 
the ratio of representation. The population of each 
State is divided by this number; and the quotient is 
the number of representatives to which the State is 
entitled. There are remainders, so that the number 
apportioned to the States is less than the number fixed 
by Congress. One additional representative is assigned 
to each of the States having the largest remainders, 
until the whole number is made up. The Constitution 
provides that each State shall have at least one repre- 
sentative. If a new State is admitted to the Union 
between two successive apportionments, it is gener- 
ally allowed one representative until the next census. 
The ratio of representation for the present decade is 
130,533. 

Besides the representatives from the States, provided 



THE SENATE. 245 

for by the Constitution, Congress has by law authorized 

each organized Territory to send one per- 

Delesates> 
son, who is called a delegate. These per- 
sons sit with the representatives, and take part in the 
discussions, but have no vote. 

The term of service is two years. The official 
year begins on the 4th of March. As the 
government was organized under the Con- 
stitution in 1789, there is a new house of representa- 
tives in March of each odd year. If a vacancy occurs 
in the representation of any State, it is filled by a new 
election, ordered by the governor. 

The following are the requisite qualifications of a 
representative : — 

1. He must be at least twenty-five years 
of age. 

2. He must have been at least seven years a citizen 
of the United States. 

3. When elected, he must be an inhabitant of the 
State. 

4. In Massachusetts, the representatives are by law 
required to be residents of the districts in which they 
are chosen. 

The House of Representatives is organized in the 
same way as the Massachusetts legislature. 
The House elects one of its members as 
speaker. The clerk, sergeant-at-arms, chaplain, and 
other officers, are not members. 

The House of Representatives has two special powers : 
1. to present articles of impeachment; 2. to originate 
all bills for raising revenue, though the 
Senate may amend these. ^^'^^^ ^'^'"• 

21* 



246 C31VIL GOVEENMEKT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



THE SENATE. 

The Senate of the United States is composed of two 

senators from each State. They are chosen by the 

legislature of the State. The members of each house, 

„ , , on the same day, vote viva voce for a sena- 
Number and ^ ' 

Choice of tor. On the next day the two houses meet 

Members. -^^ convention ; and if the same person has 

received a majority of all the votes cast in each house 
he is declared elected. If no person has received such 
majorities, then the two houses, sitting as one body, pro- 
ceed to vote viva voce; and, if a majority of each house 
is present, the person who receives a majority of the 
votes cast is declared elected. If there is no choice on 
the first day, they are required to meet, and take at 
least one vote each day, until choice is made or the ses- 
sion closes. This method is prescribed by a United 
States law. 

The term of service is six years. The first members 

were arranged in three classes, one-third 

®"^* retiring in two years, one-third in four 

years, and one-third in six years. By this arrangement 

one-third of the Senate retires biennially. 
Vacancies. yn i i, • x* 

11 a vacancy happens, by resignation or 

otherwise, and the legislature of the State is not in ses- 
sion, the governor may make a temporary appointment 
until the next meeting of the legislature, when the 
vacancy is filled in the usual way. The person so 
chosen holds office only for the remainder of the term 
for which his predecessor was elected. 

The following are the requisite quahfications of a 

senator : — 
QuaUfications. ^ -^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 



GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING CONGRESS. 247 

2. He must have been at least nine years a citizen of 
the United States. 

3. When elected, he must be an inhabitant of the 
State, 

The organization of the Senate is similar to that 
of the House. The vice-president of the United States 
is the presiding officer of the Senate ; but has no vote, 
except the house be equally divided. In 
the absence of the vice-president, the Sen- 
ate chooses a president pro tempore. 

The Senate has some peculiar executive functions, 
which will be noticed in the next chapter. 
It has also the power to try all impeach- 
ments. The details of the trial will be considered 
separately. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING CONGRESS. 

Each house is the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its members. Each house control of Mem- 
makes its own rules of order, and may ^ership. 
punish its members for disorderly conduct, and by 
vote of two-thirds may expel a member. Members are 
sometimes publicly reprimanded by the speaker, on vote 
of the house, for using unparliamentary language, or 
for other official misconduct. Members of the House 
of Representatives were expelled in the early part of 
the war of the Rebellion, for treasonable language and 
acts. 

A majority of each house is a quorum ; and, in order 
to secure this, a smaller number have the 
power to compel the attendance of absent 
members. Less than a quorum may adjourn from day 
to day. 



248 CIVIL GOVERKMENT IN THE UNITED STATES* 

Each member of Congress is required to take oath to 
support the Constitution ; and, since the 
war of the Rebellion, this oath has been 
made more explicit. 

No member of either house can, during the time for 
ProMbiti ns ^^^^^ ^^ ^^s elected, be appointed to any 
civil office under the United States which 
has been created, or the salary of which has been 
increased, during his term. No person holding any 
office under the United States can be a member of 
either house during his continuance in office. 

The Constitution requires at least one annual session 
^ . of Congress, to begin on the first Monday 

m December, unless a different time be 
fixed by law. Each Congress ^ usually holds two ses- 
sions : one longer, beginning in December of the odd 
year, and continuing until the next midsummer; a 
second, shorter, beginning in December of the even 
year, and continuing until the 4th of March follow- 
ing, when the term of service of all the representa- 
tives, and of one-third of the senators, expires. Other 
sessions are sometimes held, either at times ^xed by 
Congress, or when called by the President. Neither 
house can, during the session, without the consent of 
the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to 
any other place than that in which the Congress is 
sitting. 



1 By the phrase, "a Congress," is meant the two branches holding 
office diiring any one representative term. Thus the first house of 
representatives and the senators in office during the first two years 
formed the first Congress; and each Congress is distinguished by the 
number of the representative term, dating from March 4, 1789. The 
Congress whose term began March i, 1875, was the forty-fourth. 



GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING CONGRESS. 249 

The compensation of the members of Congress is 
determined by law, and is paid out of the 
treasury of the United States. The salary 
has been increased from time to time. At present the 
salary of representatives and senators is five thousand 
dollars a year, with compensation for travelling ex- 
penses. The presiding officer of each branch receives 
eight thousand dollars. 

The steps in making laws are essentially the same 

in Congress as in the State legislatures. 

° ^ Making Laws. 

After passing the two houses, bills are 

sent to the President. If he approves, he signs: if 
not, he returns the bill to the house in which it ori- 
ginated, where his objections are recorded, 
and the bill is again voted upon. If it is 
approved by two-thirds of each house, it becomes a 
law. The President has ten days, Sundays excepted, 
in which to consider the bill. If he does not return 
it within that time, it becomes a law without his sig- 
nature, unless Congress adjourns before the expiration 
of the ten days. 

Business is transacted, as in other legislative bodies, 

by the help of committees. In the house 

r ... ,■, . , , « Committees. 

01 representatives, the appointment oi com- 
mittees is vested in the Speaker. This is a difficult and 
delicate task. It is customary to have the two leading 
political parties represented in each committee nearly 
in the proportion which they have in the house. The 
most important committees are, the committee of ways 
and means, — whose work is to devise means for raising 
the money necessary to carry on the government, — the 
committee on appropriations, on commerce, on banks 
and currency, on the judiciary. The position of chair- 



250 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

man of one of these committees is a most honorable 
one ; and the Speaker must not only seek fitness for the 
places, but he must fill them with members from differ- 
ent parts of the country, to avoid sectional jealousy. 
The senate appoints its own committees, the lists being 
made up by caucuses of the two parties, previously 
held. 

The form of the legislative department was adopted 
p -_ _ after much discussion and opposition, 
gress a Com- The small States demanded equality of 
promise. representation in both houses: the large 

States wished it in neither. The federal and national 
ideas were in conflict. The result was a compromise. 
The house of representatives embodies the national 
idea, the members being chosen directly by the people, 
and the number being proportioned to the population. 
The senate represents the federal idea, the members 
being chosen by the legislature, and all the States being 
equally represented. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENTS. 
THE PRESIDENT. 

All executive power is vested in a single officer 
styled The President of the United States. 
His term of service is four years ; and he 
may be re-elected. The example of Washington in 
declining a second re-election has practically limited 
the term of the office to two consecutive terms. 

The President is required to have the following quali- 
fications : 1. He must be a native citizen. 
2. He must be at least thirty-five years of 
age. 3. He must have been for at least fourteen years 
a resident in the United States. 

The manner of choosing a President is as fol- 
lows : — Mode of Elec- 

1. The people of each State choose a *io^- 
body of men called Electors. The number of these is 
the same as the number of senators and 
representatives which the State sends to 
Congress. No senator, or representative, or person hold- 
ing any office of trust or profit under the United States, 
can be an elector. A law requires electors to be chosen 
in all the States on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday in November. 

251 



252 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

2. The electors meet in their respective States, usu- 

ally in the capital, and vote by ballot for 

Electoral Vote. - ^ . rpf^ n ^-^ ^- • +i. 

president. The Constitution requires the 

electors to vote on the same day in all the States ; and a 

law fixes the first Wednesday in December as the time. 

The electors make three lists, each containing the 

names of the persons voted for, and the number of votes 

for each. These lists are signed by all the electors, and 

sealed ; and a person is appointed by them to carry one 

list to the president of the senate, at the seat of the 

national government ; another is sent by mail, directed 

to the same officer ; and the third is delivered to the 

judge of the United States Court for the district in 

which the electors meet. 

3. If a list of votes has not been received from a 
Counting the State at the seat of government by the first 
Votes. Wednesday in January, a messenger is 
sent for the one in the hands of the district judge. On 
the first Wednesday in February, the two houses of 
Congress meet as one body ; and the president of the 
senate opens the certificates. The votes are then 
counted by tellers appointed for the purpose ; and the 
person, if such there be, having a number of votes 
equal to a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed, is declared elected. 

4. If no person has such majority, then the represen- 

tatives proceed at once to choose a presi- 
House of Kepre- dent. For this purpose two-thirds of the 
sentatives. States must be represented. The voting 

is by ballot and by States, each State having one vote ; 
and a majority of the States is required for election. 
The choice of the house must be from the three persons 
having the highest numbers of electoral votes. The 



THE PRESIDENT. 253 

balloting of the house may continue until the 4th of 
March ensuing ; when, if there has been no choice, 
the vice-president assumes the duties of president. 

The mode of election as above described is contained 
in an amendment to the Constitution. The original Mode 
original mode, as prescribed by the Consti- o^ Election, 
tution, was different. The electors, instead of voting 
separately for president and vice-president, each voted 
for two persons, without specifying the office. When 
the votes were counted, the person having a majority 
of the votes was declared president ; and the person 
having the next highest number was declared vice- 
president. If two persons had a majority, and each 
had the same number of votes, the house of representa- 
tives chose between them. Thomas Jefferson was thus 
chosen. If no one had a majority, the representatives 
proceeded to chose a president from the five names on 
the list having the most votes. John Quincy Adams 
was chosen by the House after the amendment. 

The president may be removed from office by im- 
peachment ; and in case of such removal, 
or death, or resignation, or inability to per- aeancy. 

form the duties of the office, the Constitution provides 
that these duties shall devolve upon the vice-president. 
If neither should be able to perform the duties. Congress 
has by law declared that the president pro tempore of 
the senate, or, if there be no such officer at the time, 
the speaker of the house of representatives, shall act as 
president of the United States. It is customary for the 
vice-president to leave the chair of the senate just 
before the close of each session, that a president pro 
tempore may be chosen, who, in case the offices of presi- 
dent and vice-president of the United States should 

22 



254 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

both become vacant during the recess, may perform the 
duties of president. 

When both offices become vacant, the law requires 
that electors shall be chosen in the States, 
and persons elected to fill the vacancies in 
the same way as in the regular elections ; provided 
notice of the vacancy can be communicated to the States 
two months before the first Wednesday in December. 
Otherwise the election is deferred until the succeeding 
year. 

At noon on the fourth day of March, the chief justice 
of the supreme court of the United States 
administers to the president elect the oath 
of office required by the Constitution : " I do solemnly 
swear that I will faithfully execute the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, and will to the best of my 
ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 
of the United States." This ceremony is the inaugura- 
tion of the president ; and it is customary for him to 
deliver an address appropriate to the occasion. 

The compensation of the president is fixed by Con- 
gress ; but the Constitution requires that 
* ^^^' it shall not be increased or diminished 

during his term of service, and that he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the 
United States, or from any of the States. During the 
first term of Washington's administration, the salary 
was fixed at twenty-five thousand dollars a year ; and it 
remained unchanged until 1873, when it was raised to 
fifty thousand dollars a year. In addition to this, the 
executive mansion, called the White House, is furnished 
to the president rent free, together with its furniture, 
fuel, lights, care of grounds, etc. 



THE VICE-PRESIDENT. 255 



THE VICE-PRESIDENT. 

When the electors vote for president, they also vote 
by distinct ballots for a vice-president. 
They make similar lists of the persons 
voted for, and send them with the others ; and the votes 
are counted at the same time. The person having a 
majority of the electoral votes is declared vice-president. 
If no person has such majority, the senate proceeds at 
once to choose a vice-president from the two persons 
having the highest number of votes. 

The qualifications requisite for the vice-president are 
^he same as for the president ; and he is 
chosen for the same term. He is not 
strictly connected with the executive department, hav- 
ing no executive functions unless in case of a vacancy 
in the office of president, when he assumes the duties 
of that position. He is more closely connected with 
the legislative department, being president of the sen- 
ate, though he has no vote unless the senate be equally 
divided. The salary of the vice-president is fixed by 
Congress, and is now eight thousand dollars a year. 

The choice of president and vice-president by 
electors, and not directly by the people, 
would seem to preclude a previous nomi- ^o^^i^ation. 
nation. This was doubtless the intention of the 
framers of the Constitution, to avoid the excitement of 
a popular election. But in this respect the purposes of 
the fathers have been defeated. Each of the poHtical 
parties of the country has a national, as well as a State, 
committee. In the summer preceding the choice of 
electors, these committees issue calls for national con- 
ventions composed of delegates from the States. These 



256 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

delegates are chosen at State conventions, which consist 
of delegates chosen in town and ward caucuses. At the 
national conventions, candidates are nominated for the 
office of president and vice-president ; and their friends 
come before the people with their claims, just as if the 
people were to vote directly for them. At subsequent 
State conventions, persons are nominated for electors, 
pledged to vote for the party candidates. For these per- 
sons the people vote, with the understanding that by 
so doing they are expressing their choice for president. 
All that the electors have to do is to record their votes 
for the persons previously agreed upon. The electoral 
voting is therefore only a form. If the candidate 
should die between the time of the choice of electors, 
and the day for them to vote, the responsibility of 
choice would fall more directly upon them. 

JUDICIAIi DEPARTI^IENT. 

The Constitution vests judicial power in one supreme 
court, and such inferior courts as Congress 
upreme our . ^-^^j^ from time to time establish. The Su- 
preme Court of the United States consists of one chief 
justice and eight associate justices. It holds an annual 
term in Washington, beginning on the first Monday in 
December. 

The United States has been divided by Congress into 

nine judicial circuits, in each of which is 
Circuit Courts. • ,• t7 -u • ^* j? xi 

a justice. Each justice oi the supreme 
court holds a circuit court with the assistance of the 
circuit justice. Massachusetts, Maine, New Hamp- 
shire, and Rhode Island constitute one circuit ; and 
two terms are held yearly in each of these States. 
These circuits are divided into districts, in each of 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT^ 257 

which is a judge, a clerk, a marshal, and an attorney. 
Massachusetts constitutes one district ; 
and terms of the district court are held 
four times a year. The duties of the marshal are simi- 
lar to those of the sheriff in the State courts. 

Besides the courts of justice that have been described, 
there is a Court of Claims, consisting of 
five justices. The business of this court 
is, to examine all claims against the government for the 
payment of money about which there is dispute, and to 
make such awards as the court deems just. As a 
sovereign state cannot be sued in an ordinary court, 
justice requires that some such provision should be 
made for the benefit of the public creditors. 

All the judges are appointed by the president, with 
the advice and consent of the senate. 

Appointment 
They hold their office during good be- and Salary 

havior, and may be removed by impeach- °^ Judges, 
ment and subsequent conviction. Their compensation 
is fixed by law ; but the Constitution provides that it- 
shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. The marshals and district attorneys are also 
appointed by the president. 

22* 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE POWEKS OF CONGRESS. 
1. RESPECTIKG FINANCE. 

The superiority of the constitutional government 
Power of Taxa- over the confederation is nowhere more 
tio^- apparent than in the extensive powers 

given to Congress for raising money. The grant is as 
follows : " Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and 
provide for the common defence and general welfare of 
the United States." The four words used are intended 
to cover all forms of taxation. A tax is " a contribution 
imposed by government on individuals for the service 
of the state." Duties, in a restricted sense, are taxes 
upon articles imported or exported. Imposts are the 
same as duties. Excises are taxes upon articles man- 
ufactured or produced for home consumption. 

The Constitution divides taxes into two classes, direct 
and indirect, and prescribes different modes 
of apportionment. Direct taxes include 
poll-taxes, — that is, taxes upon the person of the con- 
tributors, — and taxes on land, houses, and other real 
estate. These must be apportioned as representatives 
are ; that is, according to the population of the several 
States. This provision was a compromise between the 

258 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 259 

slaveholding and non-slaveholding States. The for- 
mer wished all the slaves counted in the representative 
population : the latter wished none of them counted. 
The controversy was settled by counting three-fifths of 
them both for representation and for taxation. Direct 
taxes have very rarely been levied by the government 
of the United States. 

Indirect taxes include duties, imposts, and excises. 
These are required to be uniform through- 
out the country. Duties upon exports are 
prohibited. Duties upon imports are of two kinds. 
Specific duties are proportioned to the quantity of the 
article imported ; ad valorem duties are proportioned to 
the market value of the article in the country from 
which it comes, as shown by an invoice accompanying 
it. A duty of a dollar a yard on silk would be specific ; 
a duty of forty per cent on silk would be ad valorem. 

Congress prescribes the rate of duties to be paid on 
different articles of merchandise, and the 
mode of collection. A schedule of dutiable 
goods, with the rate upon each, is called a tariff. 

Officers are appointed to inspect all merchandise, to 
assess the duties upon it, and to collect Collection of 
these. All duties are paid in gold by the Duties, 
importer. For convenience in collection, custom-houses 
are established at different places on the seacoast, on 
the navigable rivers, and on the boundary-line between 
the States and the Dominion of Canada. 

During the war of the Rebellion, excise duties were 
levied upon a large number of articles of home produc- 
tion and use ; but most of them have since been with- 
drawn. Taxes of this kind are still levied upon the 
manufacture of distilled and fermented liquors, and of 
tobacco. 




260 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In time of peace, the duties upon imports have been 
Power to Bor- sufficient to meet the expenses of the gov- 
row Money. ernment ; but, to meet extraordinary ex- 
penses, Congress has the power to borrow money on 
the credit of the United States. Congress by law deter- 
mines the amount to be borrowed, the kind of securities 
to be given, the rate of interest to be paid, and the time 
and place of payment of principal and interest. The 
money is actually borrowed by the secretary of the 
treasury. Under this provision of the Constitution, 
Congress authorized the issue of United States notes, 
payable on demand, without interest, and made them 
legal tender, that is, lawful money for the payment 
of debts. 

Congress has not only the power to provide for a 

revenue, but the complete control of all 
Expenditures. -,., -.^ i i 

expenditures. JNo money can be drawn 

from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations 

made by law ; and a regular statement of all receipts 

and expenditures is required to be published from time 

to time. 

2. BESPECTING COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL 

INTERESTS. 

The Constitution gives to Congress power to regulate 
commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes. 

Under this grant Congress declares what vessels are 
Regulation of entitled to protection as American, by 
Commerce. what process protection may be secured, 

at what ports vessels may land cargoes, what rules 
shall govern the entering and leaving ports. It makes 
rules for the government of seamen on board of Ameri- 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 261 

can vessels, provides for administering justice to sea- 
men through its courts, and sends consuls to all foreign 
ports to look after the commercial interests of Ameri- 
can citizens. It surveys the coasts, clears harbors and 
rivers from obstructions, builds breakwaters, erects 
lighthouses and buoys, and enacts laws respecting pilot- 
age, quarantine, and wrecking. 

Besides the power to regulate commerce. Congress has 
other powers which closely concern com- p t" f 
mercial interests. These are, the power to Commercial 
coin money, to fix the value of American Interests. 
and foreign coins, to fix the standard of weights and 
measures, to provide for the punishment of counterfeit- 
ing the securities and current coin of the United States, 
and to establish uniform laws on the subject of bank- 
ruptcies throughout the United States. 

For coining money, mints are established at various 
places. The principal one is at Phila- 
delphia ; and there are branches at San °^^^^ °^®y- 
Francisco ; Carson City, Nev. ; and Denver, Col. There 
are assay offices at New York ; Charlotte, N.C. ; and 
Boise City, Idaho. Gold and silver bullion is received 
at either of these places in amount not less than 
one hundred dollars in value. This is assayed, — 
that is, tested to ascertain the relative amount of pure 
metal in it ; and the depositor receives for it its value 
either in coin or in stamped bars, less a small charge 
for assaying, melting, and coining. The mint and 
branches are in charge of persons appointed by the 
president. Congress determines what coins shall be 
issued, and the standard fineness of each, regulates 
the charges for coining, and makes all rules for the 
conduct of the business. 



262 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Although Congress has the power to fix the standard 
Weights and of weights and measures for the country, 
Measures. [^ j^^s never exercised the power. It has 

adopted the English units for the use of the officers of 
the government in the custom-houses, and has furnished 
copies of these to the States, but has not made their use 
obhgatory. There is still considerable diversity in dif- 
ferent sections of the country. Congress has also legal- 
ized the use of the metric system. 

The object of bankrupt laws is to free debtors from 
Bankrupt ^^1 their obligations on giving up their 

^^^s. property to their creditors. When the 

relation of debtor and creditor is held by citizens of 
different States, it is desirable that the laws regulating 
their relation should be uniform, or great injustice 
might be done, and the commerce between the States 
checked. This uniformity can only be secured by the 
action of Congress. 



3. RESPECTING NATURALIZATION. 

Congress has the power to establish a uniform rule 
of naturaUzation. As the citizens of one State have all 
the rights of citizens in every other State, it is necessary 
that the qualifications for citizenship should be the same 
in all. The process of naturalization consists of two 
Declaration of steps. The first is the declaration of 
Intention. intention to become a citizen of the United 

States. This must be made on oath before a circuit or 
district court of the United States ; or, in Massachusetts, 
before the supreme or superior court, or before a clerk 
of either of these courts. This declaration is recorded, 
and a certificate given to the person. 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 263 

At least two years must elapse before the second 
step, — the oath of allegiance. The person must prove 
by witness upon oath, that he has resided oath of Allegi- 
in the United States at least five years, and ^^c®* 
in the State in which he wishes to be naturalized at 
least one year ; and that during this time he has borne 
a good moral character, and has been well disposed 
toward the Constitution and government. He then 
makes a written declaration, and supports it by oath, 
that he renounces allegiance to all foreign powers, and 
especially the one to which he has been subject, and 
that he will support the Constitution of the United 
States. A certificate of citizenship is then given him 
by the court. 

If the applicant was under eighteen years of age 
when he came to this country, the decla- 
ration of intention is dispensed with, but 
the five years of residence must be proved. A soldier 
who has served one year in the United States army, 
and been honorably discharged, may become a citizen 
on taking the oath of allegiance. The wife and minor 
children, if living in the country, become citizens by 
the naturalization of the husband and father. 



4. RESPECTING POSTAL COMMUNICATION. 

Congress has the power " to establish post-offices and 
post-roads." This includes all that is necessary to 
secure prompt delivery of the mails in any part of the 
country. The ordinary routes of travel, highways and 
railroads, are adopted by the government as post-roads. 
Congress declares by law what matter may be trans- 



264 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

ported through the mails and at what rates, fixes the 
salaries of all officers connected with the service, and 
prescribes how contracts shall be made for carrying the 
mails, and for furnishing the necessary articles for the 
department. The postal money-order system has also 
been established by Congress, under this provision of 
the Constitution. 



5. EESPECTING PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS. 

Congress has the power " to promote the progress of 
science and the useful arts by securing for limited times 
to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries." 

A patent is a written instrument by which the gov- 
ernment secures to an inventor the exclu- 
sive right to manufacture and sell his 
invention. The invention may be an art, a machine, 
a manufacture, or a composition of matter, or any new 
and useful improvement thereon. The patent is issued 
by the commissioner of patents for a term of seventeen 
years. 

A copyright is the exclusive privilege granted by 
government to print, publish, and sell 
opy"& • copies of writings or drawings. Copy- 

rights are issued only to citizens or residents of the 
United States. They cover books, maps, charts, musi- 
cal compositions, prints, cuts, and engravings, and the 
representation of dramatic compositions. The copy- 
right is issued by the librarian of Congress, and is 
valid for a term of twenty-eight years. At the end of 
that time, the author or his heirs may secure an exten- 
sion of the right for fourteen years. 



THE POWERS OP CONGRESS. 265 



6. RESPECTING THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

The Constitution provides for a supreme court, but 
gives to Congress power to constitute inferior tribunals. 
Under this power the circuit and district courts, and 
the court of claims, have been established, and the 
modes of performing their functions regulated. 

Congress has certain other powers which necessarily 
grow out of the sovereignty of the United States. 

One of these is, " to define and punish piracies and 

felonies committed on the hie^h seas, and 

Piracy, 
offences against the law of nations." The 

term " high seas " means the unenclosed waters of the 
ocean, and also those waters on the seacoast which are 
without the boundary of low-water mark. By the law 
of nations, piracy is defined as a robbery or forcible 
depredation on the high seas, without lawful authority, 
in the spirit of universal hostility. Congress declared 
that murder and robbery on the high seas, or any offence 
which if committed on land would be punishable with 
death, shall be considered piracy and felony. The 
slave-trade has also been declared to be piracy. Piracy 
is punishable with death. 

The power is also given to Congress to declare the 
punishment of treason ; but the Constitu- 
tion defines the crime, and limits the pen- 
alty. Treason against the United States consists " only 
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their 
enemies, giving them aid and comfort." It is further 
declared that " no person shall be convicted of treason 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same 
overt act, or on confession in open court." The student 
of English history will recall the gross injustice perpe- 

23 



266 CIVIL GOYEENMENT IN THE UliOiTED STATES. 

trated during the reigns of the Tudors and Stuarts by 
calling the most trivial offences treason, and will see the 
wisdom and prudence of those who guarded against 
such oppression in our own country. Congress has 
made treason punishable with death. The punishment 
by the common law of England was most barbarous ; 
and the convicted person could neither inherit estates, 
nor retain those already possessed, nor transmit them to 
any heir. He also forfeited all personal property. But 
the Constitution of the United States does not allow 
the guilt of the traitor to be visited upon his children. 

7. EESPECTING WAR. 

Congress has the power '' to declare war, grant letters ^ 
of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning 
captures on land and water." A letter of marque and 
Letter of reprisal is a commission granted by the' 

Marque. government to a private individual to take 

property of a foreign state, or of the citizens or subjects 
of such state, as a reparation for injury committed by 
such state, or by its citizens or subjects. ' 

Congress has power to raise and support armies, and 
to provide and maintain a navy, and to make rules for 
the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces. In the exercise of this power. Congress deter- 
TTnited states mines what number of troops shall be 
Amy. maintained in each branch of military 

service ; the manner of organizing and disciplining 
them ; the number, rank, and pay of officers ; the way 
in which the army shall be supplied. It establishes 
armories for making, and arsenals for storing arms. It 
has made careful surveys of the territory of the United 
States for the construction of army maps. It provides 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 267 

for the care of the national cemeteries, where the 
bodies of those who have died in their country's ser- 
vice find a last resting-place. It has also established 
and maintained a military academy at West Point for 
the education of army ofi&cers. The army, in time of 
peace, is scattered over the country, doing garrison 
duty in the forts on the coast, protecting the frontier 
settlements from Indians, or making surveys. 

Congress determines of what the navy shall consist, 
and the manner in which it shall be United states 
organized and officered. It maintains Navy, 
navy-yards for the construction and repair of vessels ; 
and an academy at Annapolis, Md., for the education 
of naval officers. In time of peace, a part of the ves- 
sels are at the navy-yards ; and the others are sta- 
tioned in the different waters of the globe, to protect 
the interests of the United States, and the persons and 
property of her citizens. Ocean surveys are also made, 
to aid in the construction of charts. 

Besides the power to support the regular army, Con- 
gress has the power to provide for calling 
out the militia to execute the laws of the ^^' 

Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. In 
the exercise of this power. Congress has by law con- 
ferred upon the president the power to call forth the 
militia for the purposes specified in the Constitution ; and 
the supreme court has decided that the president is the 
sole judge of the necessity of issuing the call. Con- 
gress also provides for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such portion of them 
as may be employed in the service of the United States. 
Each State officers and trains its own miUtia, according 
to the regulations prescribed by Congresjj, 



268 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



8. RESPECTING THE TERRITORY AND PROPERTY OF 
THE UNITED STATES. 

The Constitution gives to Congress the power to 
Seat of Govern- exercise " exclusive legislation in all cases 
ment. whatsoever " over the District of Colum- 

bia, and over all places purchased by the government 
for its own use, as for forts, navy-yards, &c. The Dis- 
trict of Columbia was originally a tract of land ten 
miles square, lying on both sides of the Potomac River, 
ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia. 
In 1846 the part south of the river was given back to 
Virginia. As this district is not a part of any State, its 
inhabitants are not represented in Congress, nor in the 
choice of president. Congress has given charters to 
the cities of Washington and Georgetown. Recently 
Congress established a government similar to that of 
the western Territories ; but this has been abol- 
ished, and now the affairs of the District are in the 
hands of three commissioners appointed by the presi- 
dent. 

All purchases of land by the United States, for the 
erection of public buildings or works, must be made 
with the consent of the legislature of the State in which 
the land is situated. 

Congress also has the power to dispose of, and make 
all needful rules and regulations respect- 
em ory. ^^^^ ^-^^ territory or other property belong- 
ing to the United States. The territory of the United 
States has been obtained from three sources, — from the 
individual States by cession, from foreign nations by 
purchase, from the Indians by purchase. 



THE POWERS OF CONGEESS. 269 

The territory granted to several of the colonies by 
their charters extended to the Pacific Cession by- 

Ocean; and after the Revolution these states. 

States claimed this land as far west as the Mississippi. 
The other States denied the justice of the claim, and 
refused to ratify the articles of confederation unless the 
unoccupied territory were given up to Congress, to be 
held for the benefit of all the States. After much dis- 
cussion, the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Geor- 
gia, gave up the title to the unoccupied Western land. 

The country north of the Ohio River was called the 
Northwest Territory. In 1787 Congress Ordinance of 
passed a famous Ordinance to provide for ^'^^'^' 
its government. The right of taxation was asserted, all 
civil rights were guaranteed, slavery was prohibited, and 
the declaration made that not less than three nor more 
than ■Q.ve new States should be formed from the territory, 
and admitted to the Union on equal terms with the origi- 
nal States. 

France had originally claimed the territory west of 
the Alleghany Mountains, but in 1763 had Louisiana and 
given up all east of the Mississippi River. Florida. 
In 1803 the United States by treaty with France pur- 
chased the territory south of the thirty-first parallel of 
latitude, between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers, 
and aH between the latter river and Mexico. This 
was divided into the Territory of Orleans, and the Dis- 
trict of Louisiana. In 1819 Florida was purchased of 
Spain. In 1845 Texas, which had pre- 
viously withdrawn its allegiance from Mex- 
ico, and had fought to maintain its independence, at its 
own request was annexed to the United States. This 

23* 



270 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

was considered an act of hostility by Mexico ; and the 
Mexican war followed. This was closed by a treaty in 
California and 1848; by which Mexico, for a sum of 
Alaska. money, ceded New Mexico and California 

to the United States. In 1867 the territory of Alaska 
was purchased of Russia. 

Most of the territory ceded and purchased at these 
Extinction of different times was occupied by Indian 
Indian Rights, tribes^ In order to open the country to 
white settlers, the various tribes were compelled to give 
up their right of occupancy. To those east of the 
Mississippi River, land was granted in what is now 
the Indian Territory ; and the}^ were removed thither. 
The western tribes have gradually been compelled to 
give up their roving habits, and confine themselves 
to reservations set apart by Congress. 

Congress, in the exercise of the right to dispose of 
Disposal of territory, has had surveys of it made, and 
Territory. j^as provided for selling it to actual set- 

tlers. It has also given it to discharged soldiers, and 
has made extensive grants to raiboad corporations. 

From time to time, as the population has increased, 
Organized Ter- portions of this territory have been or- 
ritories. ganized for government. The act of Con- 

gress by which a Territory is organized has the same 
relation as a constitution in a State government. It 
fixes the qualification of voters ; establishes a legislative 
department of two branches chosen by the people ; 
provides for the appointment of a governor, a secretary, 
and judicial officers, by the President of the United 
States ; determines the relations of the departments ; 
and Umits the powers of the government. Thus the 
principle of local self-government on which the republic 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 271 

rests is respected ; but the people, not being inhabitants 
of a State, have no voice in the general government. 
As has been stated in a previous chapter, the interests 
of the people are represented in Congress by a delegate, 
who may participate in debate, but cannot vote. 

Congress has the power to admit new States into the 
Union. -Two modes of procedure have Admission of 
been followed at different times. Usually states, 
the people of a Territory form a State constitution, and 
submit it to Congress with a petition for admission to 
the Union. If the government proposed is republican 
in form. Congress may pass an act of admission. Some- 
times Congress takes the first step by passing an en- 
abling act. This allows the people to 
„ ^ . . . . Enabling Acts, 

lorm a State constitution at a certain time, 

and authorizes the president to issue a proclamation 
recognizing the new State if the government is repub- 
lican in form. 

The following States have been admitted since the 
adoption of the Constitution : — 

Vermont, claimed by New Hampshire and New York, admitted 1791. 

Kentucky, ceded by Virginia, " 1792. 

Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, " 1796. 

Ohio, a part of the North- West Territory, " 1802. 

Louisiana, acquired from France, " 1812. 

Indiana, a part of the North- West Territory, " 1816. 

Mississippi, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, " 1817. 

-Illinois, a part of the North- West Territory, '* 1818— 

Alabama, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, '' 1819. 

Maine, set off from Massachusetts, " 1820. 

]\Iissouri, acquired from France, " 1821. 

Arkansas, acquired from France, " 1836. 

Michigan, a part of the North- West Territory, " 1837. 

Florida, acquired from Spain, ** 1845. 



272 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Texas, a revolted province of Mexico, adm 

Iowa, acquired from France, 

Wisconsin, a pai't of the North- West Territory, 

California, acquired from Mexico, 

Minnesota, chiefly acquired from France, 

Oregon, acquired from France, 

Kansas, acquired from France, 

West Virginia, a part of Virginia, 

Nevada, acquired from Mexico, 

Nebraska, acquired from France, 

Colorado, acquired from France and Mexico, 



itted 1845. 
1846. 

1848. 
1850. 
1858. 
1859. 
1861. 
1863. 
1864. 
1867. 
18T6. 



9. BESPECTING AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in 

either of two ways : first, by Congress, two- 

tnirds 01 both houses agreeing ; second, 

by a convention for the purpose, called by Congress on 

application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the 

States. 

These amendments may become valid as parts of the 

Constitution by being ratified in either of 

two ways : first, by the legislatures of 

three-fourths of the States ; second, by conventions in 

three-fourths of the States. Congress may determine 

which of these two modes shall be used. 

Fifteen amendments have been ratified. The absence 

« ^. . ^«. . of any bill of rights in the Constitution 
Subject of First . -, , . , j> ^^ -, . 

Eight Amend- excited the jealousy oi the people oi some 

ments. q£ ^|^g States ; and they urged the immedi- 

ate adoption of amendments to supply the omission. 
Accordingly ten amendments were finally ratified by 
three-fourths of the States in 1791. Eight of these 
guaranteed the following rights : religious freedom, and 
freedom of speech and of the press ; the right of assem- 
bly and petition ; the right to keep and bear arms ; 



THE POWERS OF CONGKESS. 273 

exemption from quartering soldiers ; security from un- 
lawful search and seizure; prompt and impartial jus- 
tice, and trial by jury ; exemption from excessive bail, 
and from cruel and unusual punishments. 

The ninth amendment declares that the enumeration of 
the above rights does not imply that others Ninth, Tenth 
may be violated. The tenth reserves to and Eleventh, 
the States or to the people all rights not delegated to 
the general government. The eleventh^ ratified in 1798, 
relates to the judicial power of the United States. 

The twelfth^ ratified in 1804, was occasioned by the 
contest in the house of representatives Twelfth and 
which resulted in the election of Thomas Thirteenth. 
Jefferson as president. It prescribes the manner of 
electing the president and vice-president. The thir- 
teenth^ ratified in 1865, abolished and -prohibited slavery 
within the United States. 

ThQ fourteenth^ ratified in 1868, guarantees political 
and civil rights to all persons born or Fourteenth and 
naturalized in the United States ; changes Fifteenth, 
the rale of apportionment of representatives and direct 
taxes, to adapt it to a wholly free population ; excludes 
from office under the United States and in the States 
those rebels who have violated a previous oath of alle- 
giance, but gives to two-thirds of Congress the power 
to remove this disability ; establishes the validity of 
the public debt of the United States; forbids the 
payment by the United States or by any State of any 
debt incurred in aid of rebellion, or any claim for 
emancipated slaves ; gives to Congress power to enforce 
the provisions of the amendment by legislation. The 
fifteenth, ratified in 1870, guarantees the right of suf- 
frage to freedmen, and gives to Congress power to 
enforce the act by legislation. 



274 CIYTL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
10. RESPECTING IMPEACHMENT. 

By the United States Constitution, tlie persons who 
Who may be ^^7 ^^ impeached are the president, vice- 
Impeached, president, and all civil officers of the 
United States. The term " civil officers " includes all 
executive and judicial officers of the national govern- 
ment, except those of the army and navy. The mem- 
bers of Congress are not considered United States 
officers. Civil officers of the States are liable to 
impeachment by the State legislatures. 

The offences for which the United States officers 
Impeachable ^^^7 be impeached are treason, bribery, 
Offences ^nd other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

Treason is defined by the Constitution itself ; and the 
other offences are determined according to the princi- 
ples of parliamentary usage and the common law. In 
the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, in 1868, the 
offences charged were, the unlawful removal from office 
of the secretary of war, the appointment of another 
person to the same office, and the forcible attempt to 
obtain possession of the war department. These were 
called high crimes and misdemeanors. 

The Constitution gives to the house of representa- 
Mode of Im- tives the sole power of impeachment. The 
peachment. steps in the process are as follows : 1. A 
resolution to impeach, naming the person and his 
office and the offence. 2. The appointment of a com- 
mittee, who appear before the senate, and, in the name 
of the house of representatives and the people of the 
United States, make the impeachment, and demand 
that the accused be summoned to answer the charges. 
3. The appointment of a committee to prepare articles 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 275 

of impeachment. 4. The appointment of a committee 
of managers to act for the house of representatives in 
the trial. 

The senate has the sole power to try impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, the mem- 
bers are required to be on oath or affirma- 
tion. When the president of the United States is tried, 
the chief justice of the supreme court presides. The 
senate establishes rules to govern its procedure. The 
whole house of representatives appears before the sen- 
ate, and the managers present the articles of impeach- 
ment. A day is fixed for the trial, and then the pro- 
ceedings follow as in a court of justice. After the 
evidence has been presented, and the arguments of the 
managers and of the defendant's counsel have been 
made, each senator is required to answer " Guilty," or 
" Not guilty," to each of the articles. The Constitution 
requires for conviction the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the senators present. 

The Constitution provides that "judgment in cases 
of impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualifi- ^ ^^^^ ' 

cation to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under 
the United States ; but the party convicted shall never- 
theless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judg- 
ment and punishment, according to law." Thus a 
person convicted of treason by the senate could, in con- 
sequence of that conviction, only be removed from office, 
and disqualified from future office-holding ; but he might 
be tried for the same offence before a court of justice, 
and, if convicted, be sentenced to death. 



i 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESn)ENT. 
1. AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 

The president is commander-in-cliief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of 
the States when in the actual service of the United 
States. In the exercise of this power, he appoints and 
removes officers, assigns their stations and duties, and 
directs the movements of the forces. 

2. RESPECTING PARDONS. 

He has power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. A reprieve is the withdrawing of a 
sentence for an interval of time, thereby delaying exe- 
cution. 

3. RESPECTING- TREATIES. 

He has power, by and with the advice and consent 
Definition of of the senate, to make treaties, provided 
Treaty. two-thirds of the senators present concor. 

A treaty is a compact between two or more independ- 
ent nations, with a view to the public welfare. The 
principal subjects of treaties are pea<3e, 
alliance, territory, boundaries, the setlle- 

276 



POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PEESIDENT. 277 

ment of claims, redress of grievances, commerce, navi- 
gation, naturalization, and the giving-up of fugitives 
from justice. Treaties on the last subject are called 
" extradition treaties." 

Treaties are usually made by agents representing the 
two governments, the agent of the United 
States being under the direction of the 
president. The papers are then laid before the senate, 
and discussed, where the treaty may be amended, 
accepted, or rejected. Any amendment must be ac- 
cepted by the president and by the other government. 
As the Constitution declares that treaties, as well as the 
Constitution itself, are the supreme law of the land, the 
making of treaties is both legislative and executive 
business : hence the propriety of investing the senate 
with a share of the power. 



4. EESPECTING APPOINTMENTS. 

The president is required to nominate, and, by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, Extent of 

to appoint, ambassadors, other public min- Power. 

isters and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all 
other officers of the United States whose appointment 
is not otherwise provided for in the Constitution, and 
which are established by law. But Congress has the 
power to vest the appointment of such inferior officers 
as it thinks proper in the president alone, in the 
courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The filling of an office by the president includes 
four steps : a nomination in writing by the 
president, a vote to confirm by the senate, 
the appointment by the president, and the issuing of a 

24 



278 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

commission signed by the president^ and sealed with the 
seal of the United States. 

The power of removal from office has until recently 
been supposed to be wholly in the hands 
of the president ; but now a law requires 
the consent of the senate to removals, as well as ap- 
pointments. During a recess of the senate, the presi- 
dent may suspend an officer, except a judge of a 
United States Court, until the end of the next session 
of the senate, and may appoint a person to fill the tem- 
porary vacancy. But, within thirty days after the com- 
mencement of the next session of Congress, he must 
nominate a person for permanent appointment. 

The president has the power to appoint ambassadors 
Public Minis- ^^^^ other public ministers. A Minister is 
^®^S' a person sent by a government to represent 

it in the transaction of business with another govern- 
ment. The term includes officers of various grades. 
They are called diplomatic agents. It is customary for 
civilized nations to send representatives to all those for- 
eign nations with whom they desire to maintain friendly 
intercourse. These officers usually live at the capital of 
the country to which they are sent. They are sup- 
ported by their own government, and report to it all 
matters that concern its interests. Through them busi- 
ness is transacted and courtesies are exchanged. The 
United States sends ministers with the following titles : 
minister-plenipotentiary and envoy-extraordinary, miti- 
ister-resident, and charge-d' affaires. The Constitution 
requires the president to receive ambassadors and for- 
eign ministers. 

The president also appoints consuls. A consul is a 
commercial agent appointed by a government to reside 



POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 279 

in a foreign country, and attend to the commercial inter- 
ests of his nation. He is not a diplomatic 

, . • n 1 Consuls, 

agent, but must receive a permit, called 

an exequatur, from the government to which he is sent, 

before he can exercise the functions of his office. This 

permit may be revoked at any time. The business of 

the consul is very miscellaneous, including 

' • J T \' jr. Duties of. 

receiving declarations made by seamen or 

others respecting American commerce, administering on 
the estates of American citizens dying within their con- 
sulate without legal representatives, taking charge of 
stranded American vessels in the absence of interested 
parties, settling disputes between masters of vessels and 
the crews, providing for destitute seamen, and sending 
them to the United States at the public expense. Con- 
suls are paid by salary or by fees. Both are fixed by 
Congress. 

Among the officers whose appointment is by law 
vested in the president, are the chief offi- Appointments 
cers of the various executive departments, ^y ^^^• 
the judges of the various United States courts, district- 
attorneys and marshals, executive and judicial terri- 
torial officers, some postmasters, the more important 
customs and excise officers, and officers of the army 
and navy. 

The senate may not be in session when a vacancy 
occurs in an office subject to the appoint- vacancies 
ment of the president ; and delay might during Recess, 
damage public interests. The president has the power 
to fill all such vacancies by issuing commissions to ex- 
pire at the end of the next session of the senate. Dur- 
ing the session, it is expected that he will nominate a 
person for permanent appointment. 



280 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



5. EESPECTING MESSAGES. 

The president is required to give to Congress, from 
time to time, information of the state of the Union, and 
to recommend such measures as he may judge neces- 
sary and expedient. Accordingly, at the opening of 
each annual session of Congress, he sends a message 
embodying his opinions and suggestions, accompanied 
by detailed reports of all branches of the executive 
service. These department reports contain a vast 
amount of information respecting the state of the coun- 
try, its resources, and the progress of their develop- 
ment. The president also sends messages during the 
sessions, either in answer to calls for information, or at 
his own pleasure. 

EXECUTIVE DEPAKTMENTS. 

Besides these special duties that have been con- 
sidered, the president, as the chief executive officer, is 
required to see that all laws are faithfully executed. 
This work necessitates the employment of a large 
number of subordinate officers, and a careful distribu- 
tion of functions. All the executive business is distrib- 
uted among seven departments constituted by acts of 
Congress. The chief officers of these are as follows : 
Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary 
of War, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary 
of the Interior, Postmaster-General, At- 
torney-General. These officers constitute the presi- 
dent's cabinet. The Constitution gives him the right 
to require their opinion in writing upon any subject re- 
lating to the duties of their respective offices ; but he is 
not bound to follow their advice, nor is their consent 



/I 



POWERS AND DUTIES OP THE PEESIDENT. 281 

required to any executive measure. The cabinet is not 
a limiting body, and in this respect differs from the 
executive council in the State governments. 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

The functions of this department are of two kinds ; 
those relating to domestic affairs, and those relating to 
the foreign relations of the government. The depart- 
ment has the custody of the seal of the United States, 
and affixes it to all state documents, with the signature 
of the secretary. It has the keeping of the laws of 
the United States, and promulgates them. Through 
this department the president corresponds with and 
instructs the consuls and diplomatic agents of the gov- 
ernment, negotiates with foreign nations, and receives 
communications from their agents. Passports — that 
is, certificates of citizenship — are issued by this depart- 
ment to persons needing them for the purpose of for- 
eign travel. 

TEEASUHY DEPARTMENT. 

This department has charge of executive business 
connected with the finances of the government. It 
prepares plans for the management of the public 
revenue, and the improvement of the public credit ; 
makes estimates of the revenue and expenditures, and 
suggests ways to increase the former, and diminish the 
latter ; receives and disburses all moneys coming to the 
government ; superintends the collection of the rev- 
enue. The secretary of the treasury is the agent of the 
government in borrowing money ; and the various 
securities issued are prepared under his direction. 
This department also has charge of the mints of the 
United States, of the coast survey, and of the erection 

24* 



282 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

and maintenance of light-houses and other safeguards 
for navigation. It attends to the execution of all laws 
relating to commerce and navigation. 

WAR DEPARTMENT. 

Through this department the president superintends 
all business relating to the military forces of the United 
States. It has charge of the army roUs and registers, 
of military equipments and supplies, of the transporta- 
tion, pay, and subsistence of the troops ; of military 
hospitals, arsenals, and armories ; of the military acad- 
emy, of military surveys, and of the signal service for 
the preparation and publication of weather reports. 
Through it all orders are issued, and to it reports are 
made by the officers in the different branches of the 
service. It also superintends the administration of 
military justice. 

NAVY DEPARTMENT. 

This department has the general charge of the naval 
force of the United States. It superintends the pur- 
chase, building, and repair of vessels ; has the care of 
all navy-yards and docks ; provides for the equipment 
of vessels and crews, and for the clotliing, subsistence, 
health, and pay of officers and men ; issues all orders, 
and receives reports ; has charge of the naval academy, 
and of scientific expeditions to foreign countries. 

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 

Through this department all laws respecting the 
postal system of the country are executed. It estab- 
lishes post-offices ; selects post routes ; makes contracts 
for postal supplies, and for carrying the mails ; appoints 



POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 283 

most of the postmasters, directs all, and receives reports 
from all; provides and distributes stamps, envelopes, 
and postal cards ; has charge of the money-order system. 
The postmaster-general has the power to conclude post- 
al conventions, as they are called, by which the postal 
communication with foreign nations is regulated. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 

The business of this department is more miscellaneous 
than that of any other. It has the general charge and 
superintendence of public lands and public buildings, 
of pensions, of patents, of Indian affairs, of the census, 
of mines, of the bureau of education, which collects and 
disseminates through the country information respect- 
ing public education. Each of these divisions is in 
charge of a commissioner. 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

At the head of this department is the Attorney- 
General. He conducts suits in the supreme court in 
which the United States is a party, and gives legal 
advice, when requested, to the president and Congress 
and heads of departments. The subordinate officers are 
called solicitors, and have charge of legal matters grow- 
ing out of the business of the several departments. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The chief officer of this department is a commis- 
sioner. He is not a member of the cabinet. The 
department collects and publishes information respect- 
ing the various branches of agriculture. It seeks to 
discover new and improved varieties of vegetable prod- 
ucts, and distributes seeds of these over the country. 



284 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
JUDICIAL POWER OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Constitution says that the judicial power shall 
Extent of Juris- extend to all cases in law and equity aris- 
diction. i^g under the Constitution, the laws of the 

United States, and treaties made under the authority 
of the United States. This includes civil and criminal 
cases. 

The phrase " law and equity " refers to two distinct 
Law and kinds of judicial procedure. The first 

Equity. includes all cases that can be settled by 

the direct application of statutes or the principles of 
the common law. Equity jurisdiction is intended to 
reach a large class of cases for which the common-law 
courts furnish no remedy. The two differ materially in 
the mode of proof used, and the modes of affording 
remedy. 

Three classes of cases are spoken of: first, those 
Classes of whose settlement depends upon an inter- 

Cases, pretation of some provision of the Consti- 

tution of the United States ; second, those which arise 
from violation of some law of Congress; third, those 
which arise from violation of some treaty stipulation 
between the United States and a foreign nation. 

While all cases arising in the three classes just men- 
Division of tioned come within the jurisdiction of the 
Jurisdiction. courts of the United States, the Constitu- 
tion has restricted certain kinds of cases to the 
supreme court, leaving others to the inferior courts, 
or to be begun in them and finished in the supreme 
court. 

The supreme court has original jurisdiction in two 
classes of cases only, — those affecting ambassadors, 



POWERS AND DITTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 285 

other public ministers, and consuls ; and those in which 

a State is a party. The latter include ^ . . , , . 

T ^ Original Juris- 

controversies between two or more btates; diction of Su- 

between a State, and citizens of another P^^eme Court. 

State ; between a State, and foreign nations, citizens, or 

subjects ; between the citizens of a State, and foreign 

nations, citizens, or subjects. The eleventh amendment 

prohibits any suit against a State either by a citizen of 

another State, or by a citizen or subject of a foreign 

nation. 

The. supreme court has appellate jurisdiction both as 
to law and fact, with such exceptions and Appellate Juris- 
under such regulations as Congress shall diction, 
make, in all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion ; in controversies in which the United States is a 
party ; in controversies between citizens of different 
States ; in controversies between citizens of the same 
State claiming lands under grants of different States. 

Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction includes all suits 
originating on the high seas, such as those Admiralty and 
concerning captures by naval forces in Maritime Cases, 
time of war, and those growing out of the relations 
between the owners, officers, and crews of vessels. Of 
these cases the district and circuit courts have original 
jurisdiction ; but they may be carried to the supreme 
court for final adjustment. 

The supreme court may not only re-examine cases 
from the inferior courts of the United States, but also 
from the State courts in cases Avhich involve the inter- 
pretation of the Constitution or laws of the United 
States, or of treaties made under them. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

PEOYISIONS RESPECTING STATES. 
PROHIBITIONS UPON THE STATES. 

The States are absolutely forbidden by the Constitu^ 
Concerning For- ^^^^ ^^ enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
eign Relations, confederation ; or to grant letters of marque 
and reprisal ; they are also forbidden to keep troops or 
ships of war in time of peace, without the consent of 
Congress ; nor may they without such consent enter into 
any agreement or compact with another State or foreign 
power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in 
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. The 
States, as such, have no relation to foreign powers. 
They assumed this as a fundamental principle of their 
Union, when they refused to treat separately with Great 
Britain just before the war for independence. During 
the war, the Continental Congress represented the 
United States in their intercourse with other nations. 
Next, the same powers were vested in the Congress of 
the confederation ; and now the principle is embodied in 
the Constitution. If each State were free to engage in 
war, and to negotiate privately with foreign govern- 
ments, there would be no security for the permanence 
of the Union, or for the continaance of the liberties of 
the people. The States must stand or fall together, 

386 



PEOVISIONS RESPECTING STATES. 287 

The States are forbidden to coin money, to emit bills 
of credit, to make any thing but gold and Concerning 
silver coin a tender in payment of debts. Commerce and 

^ ♦^ Commercial 

They are also forbidden to lay any duty of interests. 

tonnage without the consent of Congress ; nor may they 
lay duties on imports or exports except for special pur- 
poses, and under the control of Congress. It will be 
remembered that the immediate cause which led to the 
formation of the Constitution was the trouble arising 
from State legislation respecting commerce. Inequality 
of taxation of imports produced ill feeling between the 
States, and checked the commercial prosperity of all. 
Hence the propriety of giving to the general government 
exclusive power in this direction. Tonnage duties — 
that is, charges upon vessels in proportion to their carry- 
ing capacity — are forbidden for the same reason. These 
duties are not now levied by Congress. The general 
government, too, has exclusive control of the currency. 
Corporations within the States, as banks, have been 
allowed to issue bills of credit, that is, notes designed 
to circulate as money ; but these were not legal tender, 
and the holders might at any time demand gold or 
silver coin for them. 

The States are forbidden to pass any law impairing 
the obligation of contracts. In the days concerning Pri- 
of the Roman republic, the State repeat- vate Rights, 
edly made general laws for the relief of debtors, freeing 
them entirely or partly from their obligations. Such 
laws, and all involving the same principle, are forbid- 
den. No State may pass any bill of attainder, or ex 
post facto law. Congress is also forbidden to pass such 
laws. The phrase, "• bill of attainder," refers to those 
features of English law by which persons convicted of 



288 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

treason suffer forfeiture of property, and lose the power 
to transmit to their descendants, so that the children 
suffer with the parent. An ex post facto law is a law 
made to punish acts previously committed, and which 
were not punishable, or not punishable in the same 
manner, by any preceding law. 

The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Con- 
Concerning stitution lay certain prohibitions upon the 
Freedmen. States, designed especially to protect the 

colored people who have become citizens by the aboli- 
tion of slavery. No State may make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citi- 
zens of the United States ; nor may any State deprive 
any person of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law, nor deny to any person within its juris- 
diction the equal protection of its laws. No State may 
deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United 
States to vote, on account of race, color, or previous 
condition of servitude. 

PEOTECTION OF STATE RIGHTS. 

In the clause giving to Congress power to admit new 
States into the Union, it is declared that no new State 
may be formed within the jurisdiction of another State, 
nor any State be formed by the junction of two or 
more States or parts of States, without the consent of 
the legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of 
Congress. By this provision, the States secure their 
continued existence as distinct individuals. But it 
makes division possible, as in the separation of Maine 
from Massachusetts, and of West Virginia from Vir- 
ginia. When the Constitution was formed, the small 
States were induced to accept it by giving them equal 



PROVISIONS RESPECTING STATES. 289 

power in the senate with the large ones. To insure 
the safety of these States, it is provided, that no amend- 
ment shall ever be made by which this equal suf- 
frage shall be taken away from any State without its 
consent. To prevent inequality in the treatment of 
the States by the general government, it is provided, 
that no tax or duty may be laid on articles exported 
from any State ; no preference may be given by any 
regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
State over those of another ; nor may vessels engaged 
in commerce between the States be made to pay the 
usual charges for entrance and departure to which 
vessels engaged in foreign commerce are subject. 

RELATION OF STATES TO EACH OTHER. 

The preservation of the Union depends upon the 
mutual erood feeling: existing anions the 

O^ ^ TVT 4.1,- -U^ f ^ T^ l.PubUcActS. 

btates. Nothing but complete equality 
can prevent jealousies and quarrels. Any assumption 
of superiority by any State would speedily provoke 
a spirit hostile to union. The Constitution guards 
against this by two or three declarations. First, every 
State must give full faith and credit to the public acts, 
records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
It cannot question the authority under which they are 
made ; and it must give them full weight as prece- 
dents for judgment. 

The citizens of each State are entitled to all the privi- 
leges and immunities of citizens in every 
other State. Thus the unity of the peo- 
ple is promoted. Any person who can claim protection 
of person and property, transact business, vote, and 
hold office, in one State, may do all these in any other 



290 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN TELE UNITED STATES. 

State, without those conditions and limitations to 
which aliens might be subjected. 

Any person charged with crime in one State, and 
3. Fugitives escaping to another, must be delivered up 
from Justice. on demand of the executive of the State 
from which he has fled. There is nothing that com- 
pels one independent nation to deliver up criminals 
who have taken refuge within its territory. Mention 
has alre^ady been made of the extradition treaties 
by which the United States has agreed with most of 
the leading nations for a mutual giving-up of fugitives 
from justice. If criminals could escape justice by 
passing from one State of the Union to another, there 
would be an end to justice in these days of easy com- 
munication ; and this would be another fruitful source 
of mutual ill feeling. 

There is another provision in this connection, which 
Fugitives from shows the spirit of concession and corn- 
Service, promise which actuated the people at the 
time of the adoption of the Constitution. The Constitu- 
tion requires that persons held to service or labor under 
the laws of one State, and escaping into another, shall 
not be released from such service ; but shall be delivered 
up to the party claiming the service. Slaves escaping 
from their masters into a non-slaveholding State could 
not become free thereby, but were liable, if discovered, 
to be sent back to theii' servitude. Though this was 
repugnant to the feelings of the people of some of the 
States, they accepted what seemed at the time a lesser 
evil, for the sake of securing the union they so much 
needed. It is a significant fact, that the word " slave " 
is nowhere used in the Constitution as originally 
adopted. While they tolerated the system, the framers 



PROTECTION OF PRIVATE RIGHTS. 291 

of the Constitution had too much regard for consistency, 
to use the word in a document based on the principles 
of liberty and justice. 

PROVISIONS TO PROTECT PRIVATlJ RIGHTS. 

The chief safeguard of the people against oppression 

by the national government is contained 

., .. T , .., - n ^ Habeas Corpus. 

in the provision that the privilege oi the 

writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may 
require it. The Constitution does not declare who shall 
be the judge of the necessity of suspending the privi- 
lege. In 1863 Congress authorized the president to 
suspend the privilege of the writ throughout the whole 
or any part of the United States, whenever in his judg- 
ment the public safety might require it. Accordingly 
it was, by proclamation, suspended in some of the 
States. But, when the emergency had passed, the right 
was promptly restored : military rule ceased ; municipal 
law became again supreme, and free to act through the 
ordinary channels of judicial procedure. This, more 
than the successful prosecution of the war, was the 
grand triumph of the government ; for, though it may 
be easy for a government to acquire power, it is not so 
easy to give it up. 

The Declaration of Independence had stated as a 
self-evident truth, that all men are created Titles of Nobil- 
equal. Any artificial division of the peo- i^y* 
pie into classes would be contrary to the fundamental 
principle of the government. Hence the Constitution 
declares that no title of nobility shall be granted by the 
United States or by any State. The Constitution also 
forbids any officer of the United States accepting any 



292 CIYIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind what- 
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state without 
the consent of Congress. Presents have heen made by 
foreign sovereigns to some of the presidents of the 
United States; but they have been received officially 
rather than personally, and are preserved as public 
property at the seat of government. Congress fre- 
quently grants permission to officers to accept gifts 
from foreign governments. 

Another private right that has always been dear to 
the American people is trial by jury. This 
is guaranteed by the Constitution itself in 
criminal cases ; and by one of the amendments it is also 
secured in civil suits when the value in controversy 
exceeds twenty dollars. The trial is to be held in the 
State and district where the crime is committed. If 
not committed in any State, Congress by law deter- 
mines where the trial shall be held. 

The people of the States, in forming their own consti- 
tutions, were careful to provide for aU 
^^ * those civil and political rights for which 
their fathers had struggled in England, and which had 
been denied them by the British Government. They 
knew their worth because they knew what they had 
cost. When the Constitution was presented to them 
for ratification, without any declaration of these rights, 
they naturally hesitated, lest they should by their own 
act create a power that might oppress them. Hence, 
with their ratification, they presented articles of amend- 
ment to supply the defect. These have been noticed 
in a preceding section. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

EELATION OF NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

In the first part of this book it was said, that a state 
is a whole body of people ; that a govern-- source of Au- 
ment is a part of that whole body ; that thority. 
authority to govern is in the state ; that this authority 
is delegated to the government by the state, under con- 
ditions and limitations ; that the form of the govern- 
ment, and the extent of its powers, are determined by 
the state ; that the state may withdraw its grant of 
powers in part or wholly, and may delegate again to 
the same organization or to a new one. These are 
fundamental principles. In considering the relative 
authority of the national and state governments, we 
have to inquire for the people by whom this authority 
is delegated in each case, and notice their condition 
before these governments were organized. 

Previous to independence, the people of the thirteen 
English colonies in America held two distinct political 
relations, — one national, the other local. They all 
alike belonged to the British nation : its authority, as 
vested in the king and parliament, was supreme. This 
relation they held in common. As subjects of Great 
Britain they were one people. 

In another respect they were distinct. That the 

25* 293 



294 CIYIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

functions of local government should be exercised 
directly by the people most concerned, had always been 
a cherished idea of the Anglo-Saxon people. In accord- 
ance with this idea, the people founding the different 
colonies had claimed the right of local self-government. 
The king had so far yielded to this claim as to establish 
separate organizations, in which the people had more or 
less power. Thus the people of the colonies were one 
in their relation to the king, and separate in their local 
organizations. 

During the war for independence, these two relations 
of oneness and diversity continued, but with this 
change. The people of the different colonies created 
permanent organizations for local government, by form- 
ing their several State constitutions. The one people 
of all the colonies established the Continental Congress 
for such general purposes as seemed necessary, but 
made at first no complete and permanent organization. 
As soon as more pressing necessities had been met, they 
established the confederation as a national government, 
leaving the local organizations as they were. But they 
found by short experience, that they had given to the 
national government too Uttle power, and had left to 
the local governments too much. Hence the new 
organization under the Constitution. 

The Constitution was made by the same people that 
formed the confederation. They were one under Brit- 
ish rule, one in the war for independence, one under 
the confederation, and the same one under the Constitu- 
tion. The government organized by the Constitution 
received its authority from this one people. It was 
optional with this people to give up its oneness, to 
establish no national government, to separate itself into 



NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 295 

thirteen distinct and independent states, each with all 
the powers of such. It was also optional to vest all the 
functions in the national government, giving to it the 
power to provide for local administration. The first 
course would have been political suicide ; the second 
would have been to throw away what had been a sacred 
birthright of their fathers, cherished through a history 
of a thousand years. They chose neither of these two 
courses, but organized a national government for 
national purposes, and allowed the local governments 
to exist with purely local functions. This idea is 
expressed in the article which says, '' The powers not 
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people." 

The national government, therefore, receives its 
authority from the whole people of all the States. The 
State governments exercise what authority the same 
people has suffered them to retain. 

The relation of the national and State governments 
to each other is further shown in the Functions of 
nature of the functions of each. So long Each, 
as the American people were a part of the British 
nation, they held no relations to foreign nations. 
France knew them only as British subjects ; and if she 
had declarations of war to make, or treaties of peace to 
negotiate, she dealt with the government of Great 
Britain. She went to headquarters. 

But when, at the beginning of the revolution, the Con- 
tinental Congress addressed the people of Great Britain 
in the name of the American people, and uttered the 
Declaration of Independence in the name of the people 
of the united colonies, France recognized a new nation ; 



296 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

not Massachusetts, nor Virginia, but the American 
people. The States as such have never sought to be 
known by foreign nations, but have always been 
merged in the one people of the United States. 

Hence the national government possesses all those 
functions which grow out of international relations. 
War and peace, commerce and navigation, all inter- 
course with other nations — these are wholly and exclu- 
sively in the hands of the national government. They 
were not withdrawn from the State governments. The 
State governments had never possessed them, and had 
never claimed them. They were powers wrested from 
Great Britain by the blood and treasure of the one 
American people for itseK, and not by or for the 
individual States as such. 

The care and disposal of the unoccupied territory of 
the colonies is another function of the national govern- 
ment, resting on the same basis as those just mentioned. 
This territory had been acquired by the sacrifices of the 
whole people ; and for this reason they claimed it. 

Beside these functions growing out of external rela- 
tions, the national government has to do with every 
thing which concerns the nation as a whole , such as the 
coining of money, the maintenance of postal communi- 
cation, the issuing of patents. Superadded to all these 
it has the grand attribute of sovereignty, — unlimited 
power of taxation. This it exercises not through the 
state governments, as formerly, but directly, by its own 
officers, it brings its authority to bear upon the whole 
people. The national purse gives efficacy to the nation- 
al sword ; and thus 'two objects of the Constitution are 
attained, — the common defence, and domestic tran- 
quillity. 



NATIONAL AND STATE GOVEKNMENTS. 297 

A glance at the functions left for the State govern- 
ments to exercise shows them to be purely local, as they 
have always been. Their object is to secure personal 
rights, to provide for the safety and happiness of the 
individuals of the community, to protect men from their 
neighbors. Public education, public health, public 
morals, the detection and punishment of crime, care of 
local industries and interests — these are some of the 
subjects over which the State governments have abso- 
lute control. The people resisted all attempts of the 
British Government to interfere with these functions. 
They never delegated them to any of the national or- 
ganizations. If the time ever comes when the people 
do not look with jealousy upon any attempt to centralize 
these functions, and resist steadfastly all tendencies in 
this direction, that will be the time of the nation's 
greatest peril. Guizot says, " The preponderance of 
local Hberties belongs to the infancy of societies. Civili- 
zation incessantly tends to carry power still higher. 
But frequently also, as it ascends, power forgets its ori- 
gin and final destiny ; it forgets that it was founded to 
maintain all rights, to respect all Hberties ; and, meeting 
with no further obstacle from the energy of local liber- 
ties, it becomes transformed into despotism." In our 
effort to maintain the wholeness of the nation, we must 
avoid weakening this " energy of local liberties." To 
preserve both in their just relation, is the care of Ameri- 
can citizens, and the mission of American statesmen. 

It might be inferred, from the source of its authority 
and the nature of its functions, that the National Su- 
national government would be supreme premacy. 
within its sphere. It must be this, or nothing. But 
this supremacy is declared forcibly in the Constitution 



298 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

itself. " This Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and 
all treaties made or which shall be made under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be 
bound thereby : any thing in the constitution or laws of 
any State to the contrary notwithstanding." No local 
body of law-makers can set aside any expression of the 
will of the whole people. More than this : the repre- 
sentatives of the States in Congress, the members of the 
State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers 
of the States, are bound by oath or affirmation to support 
the Constitution of the United States. In the exercise 
of their several functions, they are to maintain and 
strengthen the authority of the national government, as 
well as to preserve the local liberties. There need be 
no conflict between the national and the State author- 
ity ; there ought to be none. But, if there should be, 
the supreme obligation of every citizen, as well as of 
every officer, is apparent. His highest allegiance is 
due to the government of the nation as much as if there 
were no local organizations. 

Many men excused themselves for taking part in the 
Rebellion, on the ground that their first duty was to 
their State, and that the State could by the vote of a 
convention annul the obligation of its people to the 
national government. This cannot be true. When an 
alien is naturalized, he takes an oath of allegiance to the 
United States, not to a State. The greater includes the 
less. A native citizen can hold no different relation ; 
and to disavow one's allegiance to the national govern- 
ment is treason^ no matter how many unite in the act. 

These considerations throw light upon the nature 



NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 299 

of the act called secession. It has been claimed, that the 
several States as such ratified the Constitution ; that 
thereby a voluntary union of States was formed, from 
which any of those States might at any time withdraw. 
In accordance with this idea, conventions in the South- 
ern States passed acts repealing the original act by 
which the people ratified the Constitution of the United 
States. They claimed that by so doing they might 
assume again that independent and complete sove- 
reignty that they yielded when they joined the Union. 
But just at this point is a fallacy that is fatal. The 
States as such never had an independent and complete 
sovereignty. The Union was not formed by ratifying 
the Constitution. It began as soon as two colonies 
existed to be united as subjects of Great Britain. It 
began formally as an American Union on the 20th of 
October, 1774, when the members of the Continental 
Congress, in the name of the people of the colonies, 
formed the association for the non-importation and 
non-consumption of British merchandise. From that 
time to this the question has never been asked if the 
States would have a union, but only how it should be 
organized. When the several States ratified the articles 
of confederation, and the Constitution, they thereby 
assented to the form, not to the fact of union. Hence, 
for the people of any State to withdraw their alle- 
giance from the national government, is to do just 
what the people of all the States did in making the 
Declaration of Independence. Secession is ReheUion, 
It may be justifiable, or not, on the same grounds that 
may justify any other rebellion ; but it can never be 
legal. There is nowhere in the history or constitution 
of the nation or of the States any provision for a 



300 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

peaceable dissolution of the Union. That can never be 
any thing but an act of violence. 

The national government, as well as the whole people, 
National Pro- ^^ pledged to maintain the authority of the 
tection. State governments. The Constitution re- 

quires the United States to guarantee to every State a 
republican form of government, and to protect each 
from invasion and domestic insurrection. Just what is 
meant by a republican form of government is not^tated ; 
but probably the form of the national government was 
considered republican. The two chief characteristics 
of such a government are, that it is from the people, and 
h^ the people ; that is, the Constitution is ordained by a 
majority of the people, and the government is actually 
administered by persons chosen by the majority in a 
constitutional way. If by fraud or violence the power 
in any State should be usurped by a single individual, 
or by a faction, it would be the duty of the national 
government to furnish to the majority of the people all 
needed assistance in regaining their rightful authority. 

If the government of the State cannot maintain itself, 
the legislature, or, if that body is not in session, the 
executive, may make application to the national gov- 
ernment for aid. If Congress should not be in session 
at the time, the president would be required to judge 
of the emergency, and to take such measures as he 
might think best. At different times the United States 
has been called upon thus to protect the State govern- 
ments from domestic violence. 

This is one of the most delicate and dangerous duties 
of the national executive, especially if the disturbance 
has arisen from the conflict of political parties. There 
is a jealousy of national interference in State affairs, 



NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 301 

that within certain limits, as has been shown, is health- 
ful ; but beyond these limits it would leave the people 
of the States at the mercy of any demagogue who could 
acquire a temporary power. But the right and the 
duty of the national government are unmistakable. 
Whenever any portion of the people of any State are 
unjustly deprived of their political rights, the whole 
people of the Union are bound to reinstate them. The 
safety of the whole Republic requires the republicanism 
of every part. 

But this does not imply that the United States gov- 
ernment shall interfere in every political quarrel by 
which the quiet of any State may be disturbed. This 
would belittle its character, and weaken its influence. 
The people of the States should be left to settle these 
disputes for themselves until the local authority is ex- 
hausted, and the general good requires national inter- 
ference. 

26 



APPEIJDIX. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, 
the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of 
nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of man- 
kind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them 
to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident . that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien- 
able rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness ; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- 
tion on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as 
to them shall seem most likely to eifect their safety and happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established 
should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accord- 
ingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed 
to suffer, while evils are suiferable, than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a 
long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same 
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it 

302 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 303 

is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and 
to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been 
the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the neces- 
sity which constrains them to alter their former systems of govern- 
ment. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct 
object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. 
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : — 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and neces- 
sary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his 
assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exer- 
cise; the State remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the 
dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for 
that purpose, obstructing the laws for the naturalization of for- 
eigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- 
stance. 



304 CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, with- 
out the consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : — 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
States ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences ; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and en- 
larging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
colonies ; 

For taking away our charters, abohshing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested mth power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer- 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the exe- 
cutioners of their friends and brethren, or to. fall themselves by 
their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us, and has en- 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 305 

deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for re- 
dress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is 
thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be 
the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 

We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by 
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration 
and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice 
and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would in- 
evitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
must therefore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our 
separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies 
in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these 
colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be,/ree and independent States; that they 
are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all 
political connection between them and the state of Great Britain 
is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that, as free and in- 
dependent States, they have full power to levy M'ar, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other 
acts and things which independent States may of right do. 
And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to 
each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 
26* 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States 
OF America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested 
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate, 
and house of representatives. 

Sect. 2. The house of representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several 
States ; and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of *the most numerous branch of the State 
legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabit- 
ant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according 
to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to 
service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 
three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be 
made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of 
the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, 
in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of repre- 
306 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. SOT 

gentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand ; but each 
State shall have at least one representative; and, until such enu- 
meration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be 
entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New 
Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, 
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia 
three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill 
such vacancies. 

The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other 
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sect. 3. The senate of the United States shall be composed of 
two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into 
three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be 
vacated at the expiration of the second year ; of the second class, at 
the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the 
expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third maybe chosen every 
second year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, 
during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
State for which he shall be chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States shall be president 
of the senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally 
divided. 

The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president 
pro tempore^ in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall 
exercise the office of president of the United States. 

The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments ; 
when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the president of the United States is tried, the chief justice 



808 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the con- 
currence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy 
any office of honor, trust, or profit, under the United States ; but 
the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to 
indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law. 

Sect. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by 
the legislature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time, by law, 
make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year ; and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by law appoint a different day. 

Sect. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, 
and qualifications of its own members ; and a majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number 
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel 
the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under 
such penalties, as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in 
their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of 
one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Xeither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a com- 
pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases 
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 309 

arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective 
houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any 
speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he 
was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of 
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emolu- 
ments whereof shall have been increased, during such time ; and 
no person holding any office under the United States shall be a 
member of either house during his continuance in office. 

Sect. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
house of representatives ; but the senate may propose or concur 
with amendments, as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives 
and the senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the 
president of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it; 
but, if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in 
which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at 
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and, if approved 
by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays ; and the names of the persons voting for and against the 
bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. 
If any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the 
senate and house of representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the president of 
the United States, and, before the same shall take eifect, shall be 
approved by him; or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed 
by two-thirds of the senate and house of representatives, according 
to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 



310 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for 
the common defence and general welfare of the United States; 
but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States : to borrow money on the credit of the United 
States: to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among 
the several States, and with the Indian tribes: to establish an 
uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject 
of bankruptcies throughout the United States : to coin money, 
regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix the standard 
of weights and measures : to provide for the punishment of 
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States : 
to establish post offices and post roads: to promote the prog- 
ress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to 
authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries: to constitute tribunals inferior to the 
supreme court: to define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 
to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water : to raise and sup- 
port armies ; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be 
for a longer term than two years: to provide and maintain a 
navy : to make rules for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces : to provide for calling forth the militia 
to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel 
invasions : to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be 
employed in the service of the United States ; reserving to the 
States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the 
authority of training the militia according to the discipline pre- 
scribed by Congress : to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases 
whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) 
as may by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Con- 
gress, become the seat of the government of the United States ; 
and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the 
consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, 
for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other 
needful buildings : and to make all laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 311 

all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of 
the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be 
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in propor- 
tion to the census, or enumeration, herein before directed to be 
taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall 
vessels bound to or from one State be obhged to enter, clear, or 
pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and aC" 
count of the receipts and expenditures of all pubhc money shall be 
published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and 
no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, 
without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu- 
ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, 
or foreign state. 

Sect. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 
federation; grapt letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in 
payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of 
nobility. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay 
any imposts, or duties, on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net 
produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State ou imports or 



312 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

exports, shall be for the use of tlie treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay 
any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, 
enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a 
foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in 
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE n. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President 
of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during 
the term of four years; and, together with the Vice-President, 
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : — 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole 
number of senators and representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or per- 
son holding an office of trust or profit imder the United States, 
shall be appointed an elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an inhab- 
itant of the same State with themselves: and they shall make a 
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for 
each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, 
to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the 
president of the senate. The president of the senate shall in the 
presence of the senate, and house of representatives, open all 
the certificates; and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have 
an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall 
immediately choose by ballot one of them for president; and, if no 
person have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the 
said house shall, in like manner, choose the president: but, in 
choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by States, the rep- 
resentation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 313 

the States ; and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
choice. In every case, after the choice of the president, the person 
having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the 
vice-president. But, if there should remain two or more who have 
equal votes, the senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the vice- 
president. [See Amendments, Article XII.] 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
shaU be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person 
be eligible to that office, who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fom'teen years a resident within the 
United States. 

In case of removal of the president from office, or of his death, 
resignation, or inabihty to discharge the powers and duties of the 
said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president; and the 
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resig- 
nation, or inability both of the president and vice-president, de- 
claring what officer shall then act as president; and such officer 
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a presi- 
dent shall be elected. 

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the period for which he shall have been elected ; and he 
shall not receive, within that period, any other emolument from 
the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of 
my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States." 

Sect. 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
States, when called into the actual service of the United States. 
He may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in 



314 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to 
the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to 
grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, 
except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators pres- 
ent concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice 
and consent of the senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other 
officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but 
the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers as they think proper, in the president alone, in the courts 
of law, or in the heads of departments. . 

The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sect. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress infor- 
mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their con- 
sideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that 
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the offi- 
cers of the United States. 

Sect. 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment 
for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE ni. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the 
Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The 
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 315 

their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished dur- 
ing their continuance in office. 

Sect. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
ters, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; 
to controversies between two or more States ; between a State, 
and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of 
different States ; and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign states, citizens, or subjects. [See Amendments, Article XL] 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the supreme 
court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases 
before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate juris- 
diction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under 
such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall 
be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said 
crimes shall have been committed ; but, when not committed within 
any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Con- 
gress may by law have directed. 

Sect. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
on confession in open com't. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, 
or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to 
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other 



316 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

State ; and the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the man- 
ner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof. 

Sect. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
jurisdiction of the crime. 

Xo person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, esca23ing into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
or labor may be due. 

Sect. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the 
junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the con- 
sent of the legislatures of .the States concerned, as well as of the 
Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all need- 
ful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
States or of any particular State. 

Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in 
this Union a republican form of government; and shall protect 
each of them against invasion, and on application of the legisla- 
ture, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be con- 
vened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 317 

application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, 
shall call a convention for proposing amendments ; which, in either 
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Con- 
stitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 
several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Con- 
gress ; provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall, in any man- 
ner, alf ect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the 
first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be 
deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate. 



ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be 
the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall 
be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any 
State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound, by oath or affirmation, to support this Con- 
stitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a quali- 
fication to any office or public trust under the United States. 



ARTICLE VIL 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be suffi- 
cient for the establishment of this Constitution, between the States 
so ratifying the same. 

27* ■ 



AMENDMENTS, 



ARTICLE I. 



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress 
of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

JSTo soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon prob- 
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly de- 
scribing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
318 



AMENDMENTS. 819 

militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any 
criminal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use, without just compen- 
sation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to 
a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be in- 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of 
counsel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; 
and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined, in 
any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 



ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it, to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. 



320 CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



ARTICLE XL 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by 
citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 



ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and voue by 
ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least, shaU 
not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-x^resident ; and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president, and 
of all persons voted for as vice-president, and of the number of 
votes for each; which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the president of the senate. The president of the senate shaU in 
the presence of the senate, and house of representatives, open all 
the certificates; and the votes shall then be counted; the person 
having the greatest number of votes for president shall be the 
president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed: and, if no person have such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on 
the list of those voted for as president, the house of representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the president; but, in choosing 
the president, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation 
from each State having one vote; a quorum for this pm'pose shall 
consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and 
a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice ; and if 
the house of representatives shall not choose a president, whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day 
of March next following, then the vice-president shall act as presi- 
dent, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability 
of the president. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as vice-presi- 
dent shall be the vice-president, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and, if no person have a 



AMENDMENTS. 321 

majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
senate shall choose the vice-president ; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators; and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president 
shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIIT. 

SECTioisr 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or anyx^lace subject 
to their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
approx^riate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Sectiox 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to tlie jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States, and of the Stata wherein they reside. No State shall make 
or enforce any law whicii shall abridge the privileges or immuni- 
ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive 
any person of life, libel'ty, or property without due process of law, 
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection 
of the laws. 

Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
States, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. 
But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of elec- 
tors for president and vice-president of the United States, repre- 
sentatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a 
State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any 
of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, 
except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of 
representation shall be reduced in the proportion whicli the num- 
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
citizens, twenty-one years of age, in such State. 

Sect. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Con- 



822 CIYIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

gress, or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any oflBce, 
civil or military, under the United States or under any State, who 
having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an 
officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legisla- 
ture, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support 
the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insur- 
rection or rebelhon against the same, or given aid or comfort to 
the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds 
of each house remove such disability. 

Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebel- 
lion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States, nor 
any State, shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in 
aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. The Congi-ess shall have power to enforce by appro- 
priate legislation the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sect. 2. The CongTess shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. 






\t- 







u 



I]S"DEX. 



I ■-, nib: ^'flc^^^ 



INDEX. 



Absolute governments, 25. 

Actions at law, parties to, 178; civil. 
178, 186; criminal, 178, 179. 

Act of supremacy, 63; of uniform- 
ity, 63. 

Administration of estates, 173. 

Admiralty jurisdiction, 285. 

Admission of States to Union, 271. 

Alaska, 270. 

Alb my convention, 228. 

Aldermen, 205. 

A liens, 46. 

Anglo Saxons, 55. 

Appeal, 182. 

Aristocracy, 25. 

Army of United States, 266. 

Arraignment, 181. 

Assessors of taxes, 197. 

Attachment, 186. 

Attorney-general of States, 167. 

Attorneys, 175. 

Auditor of States, 167; of county, 
191. 

Bankrupt Laws, 262. 

Bill of Eights, English, 68, 153; of 
States, 152. 

Boards and Commissioners in 
States, 168; of Equalization, 199. 

Boroughs in England, 59. 

Borrowing money, power of Con- 
gress, 260. 

Cabinet officers, 280. 

California, 270. 

Carolina colonies, proprietors, 135; 



settlements, 135; grand model, 
135; religion, 136; elections, 136; 
royal governments, 136. 

Caucus, 214, 215. 

Challenge of jurors, 184. 

Charles I, 65, 6Cy, 71. 

Charles II, 67, 71, 84, 96, 113, 135. 

Checks upon governments, 27. 

Circuit Courts of States, 172; of 
United States, 256. 

Citizen defined, 46. 

City charter, 205; council, 206; offi- 
cers elected, 205, 206; solicitor, 
206; ordinances, 207. 

Civil liberty, 38, 40. 

Civil war in England, 66. 

Clerks of courts, 174. 

Clerk of township, 197. 

Coining money in United States, 
261. 

Colonial claims, 140. 

Commerce, power of Congress con- 
cerning, 260. 

Committees of political parties, 214. 

Committees of correspondence, 2.9. 

Commonwealth iu Great Britain, 
67, 71. 

Complaint, 179. 

Conte(k'r;ition, formation, 232; na- 
ture, 233; Congress, 233; execu- 
tive business, 234; finances, 234; 
defects, 234. 

Conferences, early colonial, 227. 

Congress, a, 248; colonial, 229; con- 



326 



INDEX. 



tinental, 230, 231 ; under the con- 
federation, 233. 

Congress of the United States, 243; 
general provisions respecting, 247 ; 
quorum, 247; oaths, 248; prohibi- 
tions, 248; sessions, 248; salary, 
249; committees, 249; form a com- 
promise, 250; pow rs, 258. 

Connecticut, territ: y, 91; colony 
founded, 92; Constitution, 92; 
town, 92; charter, 93; union of 
colonies, 94; counties, 94; legisla- 
tion, 94; suffrage, 94. 

Conscientious disobedience, 47. 

Constables, 201. 

Constitution defined, 26; kinds, 
27. 

Constitution of United States, ori- 
gin, 237; formation, 237; ratifica- 
tion, 238; objections, 238; objects, 
239; amendments, 272, 273. 

Consuls, 279. 

Convention for nominating officers, 
214; constitutional, 237. 

Copyrights, 264. 

Coroners, 193. 

Corporation defined, 189. 

Costs of court, 182. 

Council for New England, 73, 74, 
99, 102. 

County courts in England, 55 ; his- 
tory of, 183; definition, 189; prop- 
erty, 190; officers, 190; commis- 
sioners, 190; treasurer, 190. 

Courts in State, supreme, 171; cir- 
cuit and district, 172; common 
pleas, 173; probate, 173; justices, 
174. 

Courts of United States, supreme, 
256; circuit, 256; district, 257; of 
claims, 257. 

Cromwell, 67. 

Dates in English history, 70. 

Declaration of Independence, 20, 
140, 144, 302. 

Declaratory resolves, 143. 



Delaware, settled, 121; united to 
New York, 121; ceded to Penn., 
122. 
Delegates from territories, 245. 
Democracy, 24. 

Departments of government, 21. 
Department of state, 281 ; of war, 
282 ; of the treasury, 281 ; of the 
navy, 382 ; post-office, 282 ; of in- 
terior, 283 ; of justice, 283 ; of ag- 
riculture, 283. 

District attorneys of States, 175 ; 
of United States, 257. 

District of Columbia, 268. 

Duties of citizens, support, 46 ; obe- 
dience, 47 ; pecuniary support, 
47 ; defence, 48 ; voting, 48, 49 : 
revolution, 49. 

Duties on imports, 259. 

Education, public, 41 ; in repubhcs, 
41. 

Edward VI, 61, 71. 

Elections in States, time, 209 ; dis- 
tricts, 211 ; officers, 211 ; records 
and returns, 212 ; canvass, 212, 
213 ; certificates, 213. 

Elizabeth, Queen, 62, 64, 71. 

Eminent domain, 37. 

English view of American claims, 
141. 

Equity jurisdiction, 284. 

Examination by justice, 183. 

Exceptions, legal, 185. 

Execution, writ of, 192. 

Executive departments in United 
States, 280. 

Expenditures controlled by Con- 
gress, 260. 

Federalist, the, 238. 

Fence-viewers, 204. 

Feudal system, 56, 72 ; abuses, 57. 

Florida, 269. 

Forms of governments, 24. 

Freedom of speech, 33, 153 ; of the 
press, 33, 153 ; from search, 33, 
151. 



INDEX, 



327 



Fugitives from justice, 290 ; from 
service, 290. 

Functions of the government, 21. 

Georgia granted to trustees, 137; 
settled, 137 ; royal government, 
137. 

Government defined, 11 ; civil, 13 ; 
necessary, 16 ; a trust, 17. 

Governor, qualifications, 164 ; veto 
power, 161 ; powers, 165. 

Habeas corpus, 34, 67, 140, 291. 

Health, security of, 33. 

Henry VII, 60, 71, 72. 

Henry VIII, 60, 61, 71. 

Highway oflBcers, 201. 

House of Commons, 58, 59, 65; of 
Lords, 59, 67 ; of Plantagenet, 70 ; 
of Lancaster and York, 71 ; of 
Tudor, 71 ; of Stuart, 71, 141 ; of 
Stuart and Nassau, 71 ; of Bruns- 
wick, 71. 

House of Representatives of United 
States, members, number, 243 : 
choice, 243 ; apportionment, 244 ; 
term, 245 ; qualifications, 245 ; 
oflficers, 245; special powers, 245. 

niinois, 152, 155, 162, 164, 171, 172, 
177, 179, 183, 186, 187, 190, 191, 

196, 200, 201, 203, 204, 209, 210, 211, 
212, 213. 

Impeachment, defined, 188 ; in 
States, 188 ; United States, sub- 
jects of, 274 ; mode, 274 ; trial, 
275 ; judgment, 275. 

Independence, thought of, 143 ; 
proposed by colonies, 144 ; reso- 
lution adopted by Congress, 145 ; 
declaration adopted, 145. 

Indian rights, 270. 

Indiana, 151, 155, 159, 161, 164, 168, 
171, 172, 174, 175, 176, 179, 183, 
184, 186, 187, 189, 191, 193, 196, 

197, 198, 201, 203, 206, 207, 208, 
209, 210, 211, 213. 

Indictment, 183. 
Inquests, 32. 



International relations, 43 ; law, 43, 

44. 
Iowa, 152, 157, 165, 171, 172, 174, 
175, 177, 179, 183, 186, 190, 191, 
193, 196, 197, 199, 200, 203, 204, 
204, 207, 208, 209, 210, 212, 213. 
James I, 65, 71, 72. 
James II, 67, 71, 85, 115. 
Judges in States, 171 ; of United 

States courts, 257. 
Judicial procedure, outline of, 178. 
Judicial department of States, 171 ; 

of United States, 256. 
Judicial power of United States, 

284. 
Jurisdiction, original, 172 ; appel- 
late, 172 ; concurrent, 173 ; final 
180 ; initial, 181 ; of United States 
284 ; of Supreme Court, 285. 
Jury, germ of, 55 ; defined, 176 ; 
list, 176 ; trial by, 76, 78, 153, 292 ; 
justices, 182 ; grand, 183 ; petit, 
184 ; charge to, 185 ; verdict, 185. 
Justices of the peace, 174. 
Kings of England, 56. 
Knights of the shire, 69. 
Law defined, 11; made by courts, 
21; statute, 22; unwritten, 22; 
common, 23. 
Laws, how made in States, 160 ; in 

Congress of United States, 249. 
Legislatures of States, 154. 
Letter of marque, 266. 
Libel, 33. 

Lieutenant-governor, 166. 
London Company, 72, 73, 130, 131. 
Long Parliament, 66, 142. 
Louisiana, 269. 
Magna Charta, 58, 153. 
Maine, early settlements, 102; under 
Gorges, 102; relation to Massa- 
chusetts, 103, 104. 
Majority rule, 29. 
Mary, Queen, 62, 71. 
Maryland, charter, 124; assembly, 
125; representatives, 125; judi- 



328 



INDEX. 



ciary, 126; religious toleration, 
126 ; royal government, 127. 

Mason and Dixon's Hue, 122. 

Massachusetts Bay Company, for- 
mation, 81; territory, 81; powers, 
81; government, 81; transfer of 
charter, 82; freemen, 82. 

Massachusetts Bay Colony, repre- 
sentatives in, 83; courts estab- 
lished, 83; towns, 83; legislation, 
84; demands of Charles II, 84; 
royal commissioners, 85; exten- 
sion of suffrage, 85 ; loss of char- 
ter, 85; suspension of popular 
government, 85; Andros, 86; rev- 
olution, 87 ; the province charter, 
87. 

Mayor, 205, 206. 

Michigan, 152, 156, 159,164, 167, 171, 

172, 177,179, 183, 186, 188, 190, 191, 
197, 198, 200, 201, 203, 209, 210, 211, 
212, 213 

Militia, defined, 168; enrolled, 169; 
active, 169; officers, 170; equip- 
ments, 170 ; power of Congress re- 
specting, 267. 

Ministers, public, 278. 

Minnesota, 152, 158, 165, 171, 172 

173, 178, 181, 183, 186, 187, 188, 190, 
191, 193 196, 197, 199, 203, 205, 206, 
209, 211, 212, 213. 

Monarchy, 24. 

Municipal courts, 174. 

Isational and State governments, 
relation of, 293; source of author- 
ity, 292 ; functions, 295. 

National supremacy, 297; protec- 
tion, 300. 

Naturalization in United States, 
262. 

Natural liberty, 36; rights, 31, 36,38. 

Navigation acts, 142. 

Navy of United States, 267. 

New England confederacy founded, 
106; nature, 106; name, 106; com- 
missioners, 107 ; war quotas, 107 ; 



..I 



powers, 107; articles adopted, 108 *> 
dissensions, 108; dissolution, 109; 
re-formed, 109. 

New Hampshire settled, 99; united 
to Massachusetts, 100; made a 
royal province, 100; oppressed,100; 
re-united to Massachusetts, 101; 
final separation, 101. 

New Haven colony founded, 92; 
union of towns, 93; united to 
Connecticut, 94. 

New Jersey settled, 116; govern- 
ment, 116; divided, 117; a royal 
province, 118. 

New Plymouth subject to England, 
72; granted, 72; settlement, 74; 
character, 74; compact, 75; free- 
men, 75; government, 76; courts, 
76; early legislation, 76; towns, 
76; representatives,. 77; revised 
laws, 77; counties, 78; united to 
Massachusetts, 79; territory on 
the Kennebec, 102. 

New York settled, 111 ; government 
by Dutch, lll;patroons, 112; local 
administration, 112; conquest by 
English, 113; proprietary govern- 
ment, 114; assembly, 114; charter 
of liberties, 115; permanent gov- 
ernment, 115. 

Nominations in States, 214. 

Non-intercourse association, 230. 

Norman conquest, 56; oppression, 
57 ; kings, 70. 

Notary-public, 165. 

Obligations of the government to. 
secure justice, 31 ; to promote the 
general welfare, 40; to foster in- 
dustries, 40; to provide for educa- 
tion, 41; and general culture, 42; 
to defend the state, 43. 

Ohio, 151, 154, 160, 164, 165, 167, 169, 
171, 172, 173, 176, 179, 180, 183, 186, 
189, 191, 193, 197, 198, 203, 206, 208, 
209, 213. 

Oligarchy, 25. 



INDEX. 



329 



Ordinance of 1787, 150, 217, 269. 

Overseers of the poor, 202. 

Parliament, 27, 59, 142. 

Patents, 264. 

Patriotism, 48. 

Penalty for disobeying law, 12. 

Pennsylvania granted to Penn, 121; 
settled, 122; government, 122; 
changes in government, 123, 124. 

Personal liberty, 31, 33; security, 
31. 

Petition of right, 65, 68, 153. 

Pilgrim Church, 73; emigration, 73, 
74. 

Piracy, 265. 

Plea, 181. 

Pleading, 187. 

Plymouth company, 72; colony, 72. 

Political liberty, 29, duties, nature 
of, 50. 

Poor, care of, 202. 

Popular will, how expressed, 28. 

Postal communication, 263. 

Pound -masters, 204, 

President of United States, veto 
power, 249; term, 251; qualifica- 
tions, 251; mode of election, 251; 
electors, 251; electoral vote, 252; 
counting votes, 252; election by 
House of Representatives, 252; 
original mode of election, 253; va- 
cancy in office, 253: new election, 
254; oath, 254; salary, 254; nom- 
ination, 255; powers and duties, 
276; as commander-in-chief, 276; 
respecting pardons, 276 ; treaties, 
276; appointments, 277; removals, 
278; messages, 280. 

I'rivate property, 31, 35. 

Probate court, 173. 

Probate of will, 173. 

Prohibitions upon States, concern- 
ing foreign relations, 286; com- 
merce, 287; private rights, 287; 
freed men, 287. 

Prosecuting attorney, 175. 



Protestant Reformation, 61. 

Providence Plantation founded, 94, 
early government, 95. 

Province charter of Massachusetts; 
87. 

Puritan legislation in Massachu- 
setts, 84. 

Puritans, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66. 

Rebellion, 50; Shay's, 240. 

Recognizance, 180. 

Recorder, 191. 

Register of deeds, 191. 

Religious liberty, 35. 

Reporter of supreme court, 175. 

Republic, 24. 

Restoration of Stuarts, 67. 

Return of warrant, 179. 

Revolution, a duty, 49; in England, 
68, 86; in Massachusetts, 87. 

Rhode Island Plantation, 95; char- 
ter, 96; not in confederacy, 108. 

Right to assemble, 33,152; to peti- 
tion, 33, 152; of suffrage, 48. 

Rotation in oflBce, 28. 

School officers of townships, 203; of 
cities, 207- 

Secretary of State, 166, 280. 

Security of life, 32; of travellers, 
32; of health, 33; of reputation, 
33. 

Senate of United States, members, 
number, 246; choice, 246; term, 
246; qualifications, 246; organiza- 
tion, 247; special powers, 247. 

Separatists, 63, 64, 73, 76. 

Sergeant-at-arms, 160. 

Settlements in northwest, 149. 

Sheriff, 191, 192. 

Slander, 33. 

Society necessary, 15; duty, 17. 

Sovereigns of England, 70. 

Sovereignty, 13. 

State defined, 12; source of author- 
ity, 17; distinguished from the 
government, 19. 

State rights, protection of, 288. 



330 



INDEX. / 






States, relation to each other re- 
specting public acts, 289 ; citizen- 
ship, 289; fugitives from justice, 
290. 

Statutes, revision of, 162. 

Subpoena, 189. 

Suffrage, 148. 

Summaries, 13, 18, 23, 30, 38, 44, 50, 
69, 79, 88, 98, 104, 110, 119, 127, 
138. 

Summons, 186. 

Superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, 167; of schools, 193. 

Support of government, 46, 47. 

Surveyor of county, 193. 

Tariff, 259. 

Taxation, 37 ; power of Congress re - 
specting, 258. 

Taxes in States, property subject to, 
198; property exempted, 198; 
property listed, 199 ; apportioned, 
200; collection of, 201. 

Taxes, direct, 258; indirect, 259. 

Territory of United States cede(i by 
States, 269; purchased, 269; dis- 
posal of, 270. 

Territories organized, 270. 

Testimony in court, 181. 

Texas, 269. 

Titles of nobility, 291. 

Towns, origin, 194; growth of pow- 
ers, 195 ; influence, 195. 

Township defined, 196; powers, 196, 
meeting, 197. 



Treason, 159, 265. 

Treasurer of State, 166; of county, 
190; of township, 201. 

Treaties, 276, 277. 

Union, history of, 227; accom- 
plished, 231 ; under the Constitu- 
tion, 239. 

Vacancies in office during recess of 
Congress, 279. 

Veto-power in states, 161 ; in United 
States, 249. 

Vice-President of United States, 
election, 255; duties, 255. 

Villages, incorporated, 208; officers, 
208. 

Virginia colonized, 130; govern- 
ment by company, 13L ; assembly, 
131; constitution, 132; legislation, 
132; local government, 132; a 
royal province, 133; counties, 133; 
aristocracy, 133. 

Voters, 29; qualifications in states, 
209. 

Voting, manner of, 212. 

War, power of Congress, 266. 

Wards, 205. 

"Warrant, 179. 

Weights and measures, power of 
Congress, respecting, 262. 

William.and Mary, 68, 71. 

Wisconsin, 152, 157, 163, 164, 167, 
171, 172, 174, 175, 177, 183, 186, 
190, 191, 193, 196, 199, 200, 203, 209, 
210, 213. 



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